Way Too Much Monkey Business

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Malik says using langurs is "stupid." The smaller monkeys may be scared of langurs, but they will simply move elsewhere in the city. There is also some evidence that over time the smaller monkeys and langurs may start coexisting peacefully. Chaining langurs also contravenes India's wildlife-protection act. "I'm laughing because it's beyond care now," says Malik. "They are dealing with a problem by creating new ones."

Indeed, there's little sign that the monkey menace is receding. As the monkey population has increased in recent years--owing to the growing number of urban feasts as well as to scientific laboratories that use monkeys for experiments and then abandon them--the natural balance has been thrown off kilter. Hungry monkeys attack people and snatch food when they can.

Given the strains between monkey and modern man, some Indians believe the only solution is to return the animals to the wild. But even that wouldn't end the debate. Environmentalists point out that Delhi's monkeys have become urbanized and may not survive in the wild. Activists also complain that in the process of rounding up monkeys, many are injured and babies get separated from mothers. "We have to tackle this another way," says Gautam Grover, head of the protection group Animal Saviour. "We took their land, we took their trees, we took their forests, and now we just want to send them to another forest. We're playing God with this." Too bad the monkeys aren't playing along.