Monkey mimics hired to restore order in India's capital

So what’s the best away to scare monkeys away from an urban city? Why ape them of course!

Monkeys are seen as a public nuisance, often invading local trains and stealing food (Aijaz Rahi/AP)

As the saying goes, ‘if you can’t beat them, join them’ – and that’s the motto  Indian government officials are embracing to scare away swarms of macaques ravaging Delhi’s Parliament House (Rajya Sabha) on a daily basis.

These mammals have become a growing problem in urban Indian cities (Channi Anand/AP)

Forty men have been hired to impersonate ‘langur’ monkeys to frighten the smaller macaques who are a regarded as public nuisance causing havoc in the capital.

A Hindu devotee dressed as a monkey participating in a religious procession in New Delhi (Tsering Topgyal/AP)

Some of their destructive antics include riding on the city’s Metro trains, entering the parliament and other government buildings as and when the please, munching on internet and telephone cables and attacking the parliament staff for food.

Monkeys mob a Hindu devotee as he arrives with a packet of biscuit in New Delhi (Saurabh Das/A)

They have also had the audacity to invade the Prime Minister’s office and have roamed freely in the corridors of the defence ministry.

Grey langurs are a common sight in India (Kevin Frayer/AP)

M Venkaiah Naidu, India’s Minister for Urban Development, revealed the local authorities were now hiring men to portray langur monkeys.

Macaque monkeys have been creating havoc in the capital (Mark Baker/AP)

“Various efforts are being made to tackle the monkey and dog menace inside and around the parliament house,” Naidu said.

“The measures include scaring the monkeys away by trained persons who disguise themselves as langurs.”

These primates enjoy chewing on telephone and internet cables (Mark Baker/AP)

Officials from New Delhi Municipal Corporation revealed that this ‘very talented’ group of men will imitate the barks of langurs and hide behind trees to ward off the belligerent mammals.

A rhesus macaque monkey holds a Bharatiya Janata Party (India’s ruling party)  flag (Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP)

Should the monkey menace continue, then marksmen armed with Sure Shot Rubber Bullet Guns could be called into action.