A government-ordered lockdown is in force as coronavirus infections rise, leaving ordinary people confined. Every uncertain day becomes harder when food runs short, and soaring prices of essentials are squeezing people. At such a time, wild animals are not faring well either.

Monkeys in Kaliganj, Gazipur, have almost disappeared. The one or two that remain struggle every day to survive, and during the coronavirus period they have faced a food crisis, trying to approach people in the hope that someone will feed them.

This monkey is seen near the old sub-registry office in Kaliganj municipality. It lives inside the Rifat garment factory of Ha-Meem Group (formerly Muslin Cotton Mills) but now comes into the neighbourhood in search of food. It is visibly weak, and local people are feeding it as best they can to keep it alive.

Visiting Muslin Cotton Mills High School, this correspondent found the monkey sitting alone. On seeing the reporter it ran forward a little, hoping for food. It was given a bun, took it and left.

Md Nurul Islam (36), of Bhadartti Dakshinpara village, said nobody knows where the monkey came from, but it has lived inside the Ha-Meem Group garment factory for a long time. With everything shut during the lockdown, it has run short of food. "Since our house adjoins the factory, it climbs over the wall looking for food. We give it nuts and bananas. That keeps the animal well, and the children enjoy seeing the monkey," he said.

Shopkeeper Md Khaja Mia (40), from the same area, said that for the past few days the monkey has suddenly been climbing over the factory wall and sitting near his shop, taking the leftover food that customers throw away. Many people also give it food on purpose and try to keep it close with affection, he said.

Tapas Kumar Das, headmaster of Muslin Cotton Mills High School, a long-established school in the upazila, said the monkey sometimes comes to the school's first-floor veranda. "We try to give it some food. It eats and leaves, and comes back a few days later," he said, adding that it does not harm anyone.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.