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In December 2021, English-language media outlets picked up on a story from India about a troop of monkeys that was reportedly killing dogs out of revenge after the dogs killed a baby monkey. The Daily Mail reported on this story on Dec. 17, writing that the monkeys had run out of dogs to kill and had since turned their attention to children: While the general gist of this story appears to be true — monkeys have killed some dogs in India — the supposed vengeful motive of these killings, as well as the number of dogs that died, had not been verified. According to the Times of India (TOI), monkeys have proven to be a menace on farms in many villages across the country, as the animals were damaging crops. In fact, in mid-December a monkey menace survey was sent out to several villages so that the country could figure out monkey hotspots and how to best combat the problem. On Dec. 15, farmers in the village of Sattari staged a protest and demanded that monkeys be reclassified as vermin. A leader of the protest said: We demand that monkeys be declared as vermin to protect our crops that are routinely damaged by monkeys. The claim that monkeys killed 250 dogs by throwing them off roofs in an act of revenge appears to be an exaggerated version of a true story. While a number of dogs have truly died after interaction with monkeys, these killings may have not been intentional; there's little evidence that these killings started as an act of revenge; and the specific number of dogs that have died is disputed. It appears that the majority of the dogs that were killed by monkeys died of starvation after they were left on inaccessible roofs. Animal activist Siddharth Sonwne told TOI: I feel the monkeys might have just been looking for bugs on the puppies. However, as they couldn't have done this on the ground, they took the puppies to roofs and terraces that they feel are safe. Local Balasaheb Bhagat added: When we realized that the puppies were starving, we tried feeding them. However, the monkeys then shifted the puppies to another inaccessible roof in the village. In some cases, however, dogs may have fallen from the roof. Local resident Radhakishan Sonawane said: We've found numerous reports concerning the number of dogs that have died in this fashion. Times of India, for example, said that about 40 puppies had died this way over the previous four months. Range Forest Officer Amol Munde said that there had only been three to four incidents of puppies dying after being taken by monkeys in the village of Lavool. Munde told Zee News: There's little evidence to support the claim that monkeys killed 250 dogs out of revenge. While this appears to be the rumor among locals, Munde said that he was unaware of any baby monkeys that had been killed by dogs in recent months. Furthermore, Munde added that there had been no reports of monkeys attacking people, although he did say that some people had been injured while attempting to flee after a monkey sighting: It's possible that this revenge rumor emerged as people conflated two different reports: the first being that a number of dogs had died after being taken away by monkeys, and the second about a monkey mourning the loss of its drowned baby in Haveri, which is about 400 miles south of Maharashtra. In sum, this rumor appears to be a bit of an exaggeration. While a number of dogs had died after being taken away by monkeys, it doesn't appear these incidents were a targeted act of revenge. A few dogs may have died after falling from great heights, but the majority appeared to have died from starvation after being left on inaccessible roofs. Lastly, the number of dogs that had died in this manner is disputed. While some villagers have claimed that more than 200 dogs had died after being taken away by monkeys, Times of India reported that death toll was closer to 40. An official in Majalgaon told the Indian Express: On Dec. 19, authorities announced that they had captured two monkeys that were reportedly responsible for taking some of the dogs to the rooftops. Forest department's round officer D. S. More told TOI: Our team, along with the Majalgaon forest range personnel and local residents, nabbed the monkeys. They were taken to the Guatala wildlife sanctuary in Aurangabad and released.
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