By Anesta Henry
Shooting monkeys has been causing more problems than it solves, says nature specialist Debra Branker. In fact, she is suggesting that Barbadians find ways to co-exist with the primates.
In light of recent calls that the wild animals be culled as they have been wreaking havoc on crops across the island, the Director of Welchman Hall Gully, told Barbados TODAY that homeowners and farmers who are struggling with monkeys need to consider alternatives to getting rid of them.
“I am not eliminating hunters, however I do feel there is a need for the population count of the monkeys, and we also need to educate Barbadians and tourists. I am hearing about more and more people hand-feeding monkeys in their houses and then the neighbours have monkeys going into their houses and stealing. Monkeys coming into someone’s house is not normal behaviour, that is something that they have learnt, that is not a survival tactic,” Branker said.
Noting that farming has become more popular in the past 50 years, Branker suggested that many of those in the sector fail to include what she has described as “necessary monkey management” as part of their practices.
She noted that some farmers have implemented a number of effective strategies on their farms including putting newspaper and scarecrows between the plants, using smelly manure, and erecting electrical fences to keep monkeys at bay.
“There are a lot of farmers in Barbados who have absolutely no problems with monkeys, but you don’t hear from them because it is not a problem for them. I have one farmer in this area and she says she has more problems with the people stealing than with the monkeys coming in.
“Monkeys would come in, take a couple of things and move on. She says when people come to steal they steal everything. So farming is management, you cannot just exclude one thing for another,” Branker said.
Monkeys have been around since colonisation and is Barbados’ main wildlife.
In fact, while repeating the need for a population count and to identify areas populated by monkeys, Branker suggested that culling changes monkey behaviour “and shifts the problem to the neighbour”.
Nevertheless, Branker admitted that there are some instances where culling might be necessary.
“Culling is where you actually take out the weakest and the sick, the old and the very young. It is not just coming there and shooting. Monkeys have a complex social system like humans.
“When you start taking out males and females, you are actually changing the whole dynamics of the troop. And when you change the whole dynamics of the troop, yes they might move away from where you hit them, but they become someone else’s problem and then they start to behave differently. We have been shooting monkeys for hundreds of years and it has not been efficient and it is actually creating problems,” she said.
She also pointed out that monkeys have been around since colonisation and is Barbados’ main wildlife.
“We need to understand the benefits the monkeys have. The only sort of wild animals we have are monkeys so we have to co-exist with them. And most importantly, stakeholders need to come together and formulate a plan to deal with the monkeys.”
