In the Indian town of Lavool, almost 200 pups were slaughtered in purported “revenge” killings after the dogs allegedly killed a newborn monkey. Two simians were discovered in the community grabbing the pups and transporting them to high regions where they would starve or perish. According to India’s ANI news, the offenders have been apprehended and moved. According to News18, while media agencies reported that the monkeys were murdering in vengeance for the death of a newborn, locals claim that no such incident has occurred in the recent few months.
The number of pups murdered has also been contested, with one local resident claiming that up to 200 puppies were slaughtered, while a nearby ranger claims that just three to four puppies were slain. Regardless, the monkeys were acting strangely, with humans being hurt while fleeing them. One of the victims was an 8-year-old schoolchild.
“In general, monkeys do not harm humans, but people are terrified of them.” In the last several days, some individuals have been hurt while fleeing these monkeys. However, no monkey bites have been reported in this hamlet,” Range Forest Officer Amol Munde told the national news agency PTI. Stealing puppies is not common for these monkeys; in the region, monkeys have known to abduct puppies and transport them to high locations to “take care of them.” Unfortunately, for the dogs, monkeys make poor owners and do not comprehend their new pets’ food and water needs, causing them to starve or attempt to flee, tumbling to the ground.
“Over the previous three months, similar instances have occurred. These two monkeys have made their way to our village. “They carry pups to the roofs of houses or any other high area,” claimed Radhakishan Sonawane, a local. “These puppies don’t get any food or water since they’re at such a high altitude.” As a result, they died naturally a number of times. However, occasionally die when they fell from a great height. In our community, almost 200 pups had died,” says the narrator. Images and videos of the horrible attacks, in which the monkeys kidnap little dogs and take them away high in the trees, have recently surfaced. According to residents, the primate eradication has killed nearly every dog in the area, leaving owners distraught.
Assistant Professor of Anthropology at SUNY Buffalo, Stephanie Poindexter, told Gizmodo last year that primates are capable of executing vengeance and are more likely to target creatures that match the attacker’s picture. “Obviously, we can’t know what they were going to do or why they did it since we can’t question them.” “However, we’ve observed in studies of cage primates and social groups in zoos that when a person is assaulted in some manner, the risk of them attacking someone connected to their attacker is increased,” Poindexter said.
