ABSTRACT
Rhesus macaques Macaca mulatta are protected by schedule III of Wildlife Protection Act.
However, they are losing conservational support with the rapid increase in their number as
well nuisance activities. To investigate this, a study on their population distribution and
monkey-menace was conducted in Aligarh district during May – September 2010. Aligarh
district is located in western Uttar Pradesh (India) between 27053`North latitude and
7804`East longitude and situated 126 km away from Delhi on Delhi-Calcutta railways.
Population estimation of rhesus monkey was done by surveying the area mainly along the
different roads leading towards other townships situated within administrative boundaries of
Aligarh district. These roads were considering as transects and covered by motor-vehicle
keeping the speed 10-15 km per hour. The identified monkey groups were visited during dusk
or dawn and visual counts of each group were made carefully from close distance. To know
the attitudes of local people towards monkey menace, questionnaire based “opinion survey”
was conducted. Eighty four groups of rhesus monkeys comprising of 4051 individuals were
recorded from different types of habitat. Group size ranged from 15 individuals to 155, with
an average of 48. Opinion survey revealed that monkeys are becoming danger for public
health, crop and property. Eighty nine percent of the local people agreed that monkeys are
responsible for disease transmission among human being, whereas, 61% people were
convinced that monkeys are damaging properties and crops. Therefore, 86% people of the
area are convinced that monkey should be trapped and translocated to somewhere else.