Troops of monkeys short of food are raiding homes in the Nayachar and Char Mugaria areas of Madaripur. About a thousand monkeys live in the trees there. They used to move about in groups and do little harm; now they snatch food from anyone carrying it in the street and enter kitchens and houses by day to take what they can, frightening residents.
Locals say the government food allocation for the monkeys has been stopped since June 2025, and that is why the animals are coming into homes. They also blame growing settlements and shrinking natural habitat. The risk of conflict between people and monkeys is rising, and there is concern for the monkeys' survival.
Resident Zakir Sheikh said hunger is driving the monkeys to people, and unless they are fed they will keep coming, to the harm of both sides. Another resident, Aklima, said the monkeys used to stay in the trees but now often come into the house, and food is not safe even indoors.
A few animal lovers feed the monkeys as best they can. One of them, autorickshaw driver Sabbir Hossain, said he feeds monkeys and other animals from what he earns after keeping his family, but feeding about a thousand monkeys regularly from private means is hard.
Mohammad Jahangir Alam, an official of the social forestry department, said an allocation for the monkeys' food has been requested but not yet received, so government feeding cannot resume.
The report is by Krishi Shomoy's Madaripur correspondent.
Photo: Syed Sajidul Islam / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0); a rhesus macaque in the Sundarbans.
Source: Krishi Shomoy
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