Too Many Monkeys, Too Few Solutions

Komal Giri, a farmer in Keurani village of Melamchi Municipality–8 in Sindhupalchok, stopped growing wheat two years ago after repeated crop losses to monkeys descending from nearby forests.

“They eat wheat like leafy vegetables,” Giri said. “When hundreds of monkeys enter the fields at once, it becomes impossible to chase them away.”

Like many farmers in the area, Giri has raised concerns with every authority he could reach. The problem, however, has only intensified.

“Earlier, monkeys would flee at the sound of shouting or barking dogs. Now they do not run away at all. Instead, they attack people,” he said.

(Asmita Giri)

Asmita Giri, another resident of Keurani, sustained injuries recently while trying to drive monkeys away from her field. “After that incident, I stopped working in the fields altogether,” she said. She now works as a teacher in Melamchi Bazaar.

Fear of monkey attacks has left around 25 percent of cultivable land in Ward No 8 uncultivated. Keurani has become a stark example of how monkey menace across Nepal’s mid-hill districts is steadily undermining livelihoods.

(Komal Giri)

Across several districts, farmers have either shifted to crops less vulnerable to monkeys or abandoned agriculture altogether. Some have migrated elsewhere in search of alternative livelihoods. With arable land lying fallow and production falling, concerns are growing over a potential food crisis in the coming years.

In Keurani, the problem has been exacerbated by a rapid increase in the monkey population in surrounding forests.

(Nemraj Tamang)

According to local farmer Nemraj Tamang, the menace began around 12 years ago and has worsened sharply in recent years. “At least one person from every household has to stay in the fields every day to guard crops,” he said. “Sometimes, around 200 monkeys arrive at once.”

Monkeys damage maize, paddy, wheat, millet, vegetables and fruits alike. A large troop can destroy an entire crop across a large field in just 10 to 15 minutes, Tamang added. 

While monkeys are the primary threat, farmers also face damage from wild boars and bears. Monkeys typically raid fields during the day, while bears are more active in the evening, locals said.

As farming has declined, agricultural output in the area has fallen sharply. Farmers who once relied on produce from their own land are now forced to buy food from markets in Melamchi.

Residents complain that neither federal nor local governments have shown sufficient urgency despite the worsening situation. “When we raise the issue, elected representatives brush it aside, saying even the central government has failed to control monkeys, so what can we do?” said local farmer Prakash Puri.

(Prakash Puri)

According to Rajkumar KC, planning officer at Melamchi Municipality, there are around 5,000 monkeys within the municipal area. Three years ago, the municipality distributed ‘scare guns’ to farmers as a deterrent, but the measure proved ineffective, said ward member Mangle Dong.

Ward No 8 covers an area of 7.45 square kilometres and has a population of 2,082. “This ward was once ahead in food production,” Dong said. “But output has declined because the monkey problem remains unresolved.” He warned that continued decline could have long-term consequences for food security.

Nepal’s legal framework prioritises wildlife conservation but provides neither insurance nor compensation for farmers affected by damage caused by monkeys and other wild animals. With most farmland located near community forests, losses are higher. The situation is further compounded by labour shortages, as many young people have migrated abroad for work, leaving farming largely to elderly people and women.

Why has the problem worsened?

Experts attribute the growing menace to rising monkey populations, forest fragmentation, declining natural food sources and expanding human settlements. While community forest conservation has been successful in many mid-hill areas, farmland bordering these forests has become an easy feeding ground.

(Yogendra Man Shrestha)

Yogendra Man Shrestha, chief of Ilam Community Agriculture Campus, said food shortages in forests are forcing monkeys into villages. “The clearing of shrubs and climbers under community and scientific forest management has destroyed tubers and roots that form the monkeys’ natural diet,” he said. “As a result, they enter human settlements in search of food.”

Once exposed to conflict with humans, monkeys tend to reproduce more actively due to the heightened sense of danger, accelerating population growth, Shrestha added.

(The team that visited Sindhupalchok to study the impact of the monkey menace.)

What control measures exist?

According to Ujjawal Kumar Singh Kushwaha, a scientist at the Nepal Agricultural Research Council, a chemical compound known as trimethylamine (TMA) can be used to deter monkeys and blue bulls (nilgai).

Shrestha added that bioactive compounds such as dioscin and diosgenin found in tubers like yam help regulate monkeys’ reproductive capacity. “These tubers are no longer widely available, while alternative food sources have contributed to higher reproduction rates,” he said.

Monkey sterilisation programme

To control the monkey population, the government has allocated Rs 10 million for a pilot vasectomy programme. The funds will be used by the Department of Livestock Services and the Central Veterinary Hospital in Tripureshwar to procure equipment, provide treatment and implement the pilot, said department’s Director General Dr Umesh Dahal.

(Dr Umesh Dahal)

The programme will initially focus on sterilising male monkeys. “Because a monkey’s physical structure is similar to that of humans, the procedure requires equipment used in human medicine,” Dahal said. After sterilisation, monkeys will be kept in camps for a few days and released back into the same area once their condition stabilises.

Treatment will be carried out through local camps rather than at a single location. If the pilot proves successful, the programme will be expanded nationwide, with plans to develop equipment and trained personnel for sterilising female monkeys as well.

The government has also drafted a procedure to curb monkey menace. “It will be revised by incorporating suggestions from the Ministry of Forests and Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, and then published in the Gazette,” Dahal said.