NAROWAL: A group of wild monkeys has been pestering for the last three days the residents of Mahatpur, a border village of Shakargarh tehsil, by stealing away eatables from their houses.

According to residents of the village that is situated on Pakistan-India border, four to five wild monkeys enter their house and take away whatever food item they could find and then climb up the trees with the booty.

The locals had been trying to shoo the monkeys away by chasing them along with their dogs but they return for “rampage” whenever they find the villagers off guard, a resident, Anwarul Haq Chaudhry, told Dawn.

According to Aslam Gujjar, another resident, the monkeys have crossed over into Pakistani territory from Indian side because of harsh weather conditions there resulting in scarcity of food for them. He said many wild animals cross the border in the area in winter every year in search of food.

He said two youths of the village – Javed and Shakeel – got injured while climbing the trees to drive away the monkeys hiding in the branches. He said the village residents wanted the district administration or the local wildlife department to help them get rid of the menace.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2017