A population of green monkeys has been discovered in the area of Collins Ghaut.
These monkeys can cause significant damage to local farms, leading some to call for government intervention to address the problem.
Kevin Lindsay, an environmental consultant who was working on a project related to iguanas in the area, observed more than twenty of these monkeys during his time in the field.
“But when I was cutting the trail, I didn’t have my camera on me at the time, I just did a few feedback when I was cutting and I heard a movement and I thought it was a big one, so I looked up and I saw a face staring back at me from across the stream and I sort of tried to slowly move back to my camera because I saw a special one, possibly a third, but as I came back, they had moved and I saw them in the distance, so I tried to snap those pictures because they were beginning to move off, but I thought they were like three or four, then all of a sudden this whole canopy started shaking and I saw three, four, and then five, and ten, and I saw twelve, and then I realized that it had gone up around fifteen.’ he said.
Given the potential impact on local agriculture, Lindsay says it is important for authorities to carefully consider their options for addressing this issue.
“But they are very dangerous, they are not a good thing for all biodiversity, as little as we have. And definitely they are not good for people’s livelihoods, you know, people’s safety. They are terrible animals because they will attack pets, including cats and dogs, especially puppies, and they will attack small children and threaten adults. But there is a real problem for farmers in St. Petersburg and other places where they are being introduced. So they need to be called right away.”
