Ayodhya Nath Kerni
Charles Robert Darwin was of the view that all species were descended from a common ancestor. Religious opponents opposed Darwin and conceived the belief that evolution denied divine creation of human beings; it made people and animal equal. Darwin noted during his scientific expedition that each species in each Island was slightly different. There may be controversy in accepting the theory of evolution by natural selection. Darwin’s critics pointed out that he could not explain the mechanism that caused life forms to change from generation to generation. New molecular biology techniques compare the genetic structure of different species, enabling scientists to determine undetectable evolutionary relationship between species. As of now evolution is recognized as the corner stone of modern biology, As far as monkeys are concerned one has to admit that the smartest mammals are primates. Monkeys found in India include guenons, mangabeys, colobus, macaques, langurs and baboons etc.
Monkeys are not domesticated animals like cats and dogs. They do not make good pets. Monkeys are very messy and destructive. They behave impredictably and even pose a danger to people. Biologists assume that monkeys possess good memory. They can recollect where the different trees are and when do they ripe. Monkeys communicate with one another by gesticulating with parts of their bodies and call one another by vocalization. They use their intelligence to protect themselves from enemies. They urinate on enemies from top of the tree. They also jump up and down to make dead branches fall on the enemies on ground.
It gives hilarious joy to tourists when they start their road journey from Jammu to Katra to visit Mata Vaishnoo Devi Shrine. As and when city area is crossed over the cool breeze blowing through lush green forests is enjoyed even at the time when mercury starts soaring all around, After paying obeisance to Kol Kandoli pious shrine devotees approach the steep turnings of Bantalab, Nandini and Domel. The journey is oftenly interrupted with the panic of larger groups of monkeys on road side, The tourists offer them bread, grams and other eatables perhaps owing to certain religious reservations. Langurs are considered as the incarnation of the God ape Hanuman. This small monkey is famous for its ability to leap 9 meters between trees. In case when it jumps from one tree and feels that it is unable to reach another tree can turn back from half the way in the air. It has come to notice that road being busy with vehicular traffic faces jams due to presence of large number of monkeys. The presence of monkeys on road is dangerous and prone to accidents. Many monkeys succumb to death with vehicle accidents because of their frequent movement on road. Monkeys found on this road are very clever and they have learned how to blackmail the people. They would pick up forcibly lady purse or shawl and sit on the high branch of tree. They will only return the stolen articles in case some eatables are offered to them. Few months back a tourists while offering eatables to monkeys group sustained injuries due to attack of other monkeys.
Some years back a monkey catching squad visited the area but desirable results were not achieved because of not carrying out the programme continuously for a long period of time. Some times private parties also catch the monkeys and sell them as pets. A programme to this effect be conducted by government agency to catch the monkeys from road side and leave them in dense forests. This would enable monkeys to return to their original habitats. Most of the world’s monkeys live in tropical and sub tropical forests. Monkeys can even share their habitats with many other wild animals including lion, bears and tigers. Most monkeys live in warm climates, some do survive in extreme environments. A few tropical survive on high mountains well above the snow line. Snub nosed langurs are also seen on Trikuta hills while visiting Mata Vaishnoo Devi shrine. The other monkeys leave their habitats where ever langurs are present. The tourists visiting the area need to be briefed by displaying hoardings not to offer eatables to monkeys so that they may flee towards forests for search of food and road is cleared of the horror of monkeys.
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