Tamil Nadu: Activist, NGOs step in to feed starving monkeys

CHENNAI: The nationwide lockdown, imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19, impacted not just human beings, but also animals. While animal lovers, activists and even police personnel made sure community animals in the city were fed, large groups of monkeys living in the hills in Sholinghur were left to their own devices. The animals may have starved if not for the NGOs and individuals who came together to ensure they are fed every day.
There are not many fruit bearing trees in the area. "The monkeys used to depend on devotees visiting the Narasimha Swamy temple and Anjaneyar temple for food, but with the lockdown, there were no visitors," said K M Suceendran, a senior general manager with an IT company.
"In May, a local contacted one of my friends and told him about the plight of the monkeys," said Suceendran, who also runs NGO Sharing Tree, which sponsors the education of underprivileged students. "Many monkeys had given birth to young ones, others were pregnant and all were starving," he said.
Along with his friend Rishikesava and others, Suceendran tied up with vendors in the area. "We contacted a person who sells rice, a fruit vendor and another who sells roasted Bengal gram," said Suceendran. He also got in touch with Hari, a caretaker at the Narasimha Swamy temple, who has been feeding the monkeys regularly.
"There are about four large groups of monkeys in the area. He gives them bananas in the morning, curd rice in the afternoon and roasted Bengal gram in the evening and we pay him a monthly salary," Suceendran said.
He also got in touch with Kishan Jain of the Chennai Food Bank, who agreed to help. "Since September 20, we have been funding food for the animals. We have students who also supervise the feeding and videos are taken every day with the date and time stamp to show that it has been done," said Jain.
With more sponsors coming forward, Suceendran said the next step is to plant saplings of fruit-bearing trees and provide water. "It will be tough during summer so we want to create a pond-like structure and ensure there is water flow so that they are full," he said.