Colombo, July 16 (FN Agency) Sri Lanka is contemplating a second round of testing OF Intra-Uterine Devices (IUDs) on red-faced monkeys as a means of reducing their population following farmers’ demands to exterminate the simians for regularly destroying crops. The country’s Agriculture Ministry has classified toque macaques, wild boars, peacocks, and giant squirrels as important crop pests. Farmers are begging for air weapons to safeguard their crops, according to the news portal Economy Next. State Finance Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya announced the provision of cash for farmers to purchase air rifles, and in January, Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera distributed air weapons to farmers farming pineapple, pomegranate, guava, and papaya. Researchers at Sri Lanka’s Peradeniya University are testing birth control on mammals.
Ashoka Dangolla, a professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, said he’s been working with eight monkeys. The IUDs were inserted, and they are X-rayed once a month. They are now prepared for the next phase. “We need to capture 2 or 3 male monkeys to live with these monkeys and to see if they will mate and if the females will become pregnant,” he told EconomyNext. In February 2023, Sri Lanka removed peacocks, grizzled giant squirrels, porcupines, wild boars, and toque macaques from a protected list. Farmers demanded regular weapons, but the Ministry of Agriculture issued them with air rifles to handle the monkey problem. However, Amaraweera said that if the situation worsens, standard rifles will be issued. According to Dangolla, sterilising monkeys is a more compassionate way to control their population.