Pendrao Bujji has the monkey menace to thank for his livelihood – he catches leaf monkeys, domesticates and trains them to scare the monkeys away. He sells them from anything between Rs 5000 to Rs 11000, depending on age and size.

Vijayawada: Only those at the receiving end of monkey menace know what it is to be up against an army of invading simians. Their destructive streak scares even the mightiest, even the government – like in Delhi, the most powerful ministry of home is also under periodic attacks from monkeys.

There have been cases of monkeys forcibly entering office rooms and tearing up files and papers. In Delhi it was a common scene to witness leaf monkeys on a leash being taken around to scare away the monkeys. What more, the leaf monkeys were paid “salary” too, but eventually animal rights activists got to it and got the courts to put a full stop to this practice.

But elsewhere in the country, the game carries on and leaf monkeys (langur in Hindi) are used to scare the monkeys away.

It is this latent fear among the monkeys that Pendrao Bujji has based his livelihood on. His profession is to catch leaf monkeys from jungles and villages, domesticate and train them and sell them to people wanting to save themselves from Monkey menace.

There are plenty of customers and Pendrao’s business is doing weill.

To meet Pendrao you have to come to Viswannapeta village, 70 km from Vijayawada, where his house is the training centre. At any time you can see the trained leaf monkeys, with red ribbon around their necks to distinguish from the untrained ones, and several others lodged in cages.

Pendrao is 38 and his personal and extended family of 20 people are fully engaged in this activity.

The trained leaf monkeys are very docile. But they look scary and monkey scoot the moment they sight this big fellow.” Pendrao said when Covaipost caught up with him at his house.

A banner pinned to a tree proclaiming “Kondamuchullu Ammabadunu” (Leaf Monkeys sold) shows the way to his training centre – his house that he shares with his family and relatives. All of them are engaged in this leaf monkey catching and training business.

Business is brisk, as on an average he sells some 50 to 60 Leaf Monkeys every agricultural season, as farmers from villages far and near come to Bujji for “guards” to save their crops from monkeys. The rates vary from Rs 5000 to Rs 11,000 per leaf monkey depending on its age and size.

In case, the clients want to keep the monkey in safe custody till the next agricultural season, Pendrao also provides this service. He notes the details of the leaf monkey and returns one of the same size and age to the client as and when he wants.

Pendrao also lends the leaf monkeys on a daily basis too.

His clients come from far and near and even outside the state, but Pendrao would not confirm. Nor does he admit that some of the monAkeys is catches are from the wild.

The Leaf Monkeys are tied to pillars with dog leashes and taken out on rounds. After few rounds, they go into the cages, till they get used to the people and are domesticated.

“It takes one month to two months to train one Leaf Monkey,” saud Pendrao. He doesnot know that what he is doing is illegal.

Why even village Panchayats ask me to send leaf monkeys to scare away the monkeys. Some villages have even bought the leaf monkeys, he said.

For the past 15 years he has been doing this, he said.

“They go as far as Paderu forests and Vishakapatnam in the eastern ghat ranges to catch leaf monkeys,” said said Bharat Bhushan an NGO activist.