Uttarakhand to introduce family planning pills for its 1.5-lakh monkeys

Uttaraskhand is taking a lead in controlling the population of monkeys in its state. Their population is at present in the region of 1.5-laskhs and is increasing by nearly 36% every year. These simians are a menace in its villages, towns and cities.
Uttarakhand plans to put the burgeoning monkey population on the pill.
It is no ordinary pill but, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) will administer an oral immuno-contraceptive, Porcine zona pellucida (PZP), to female monkeys. This PZP will render females temporarily infertile and this method is expected to curtail growing monkey numbers. This will be the first of its kind in the country.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 4 August 2016.

The PZP will be mixed in food left for monkeys that remain at large. It has to be administered every six months. It produces antibodies that get attached to sperm receptors on eggs in the female thus blocking fertilisation. US and Australia have already used immuno-contraception and it is an expensive option because it has to be procured from the US. Efforts need to be made to explore possibilities of producing a similar vaccine in the country on a mass scale.
The vaccine will be mixed with food and will render the female infertile for a year. The dose will be repeated over a period of four years and the monkeys for the pilot project will either be tagged or identified from their traits. The pilot project is expected to take wings within the next two months.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org


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