There will be no “loose” culling of the monkey population in Barbados, Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir has told parliamentarians, but efforts are being made to bring “balance” to the problem that has plagued food producers across the island.
His assurance came on Tuesday as lawmakers considered the appropriations for his ministry. They also followed a weekend radio programme that discussed the primates.
Weir said the ministry sought to find a humane method for the problem identified by farmers that included granting a $5 increase for those who hunt the green monkeys, officially considered a pest.
“The bounty is $25 and they have been told in no uncertain terms that when they are going out hunting it must be done in accordance to what we agreed on. For example, they can’t hunt monkeys in gullies. They are not supposed to go into gullies like Welchman Hall Gully and that is in the paper that we presented,” he said.
“They are not supposed to go into neighbourhoods loosely and cull monkeys either. This has to be a controlled, well-organised thing. But certainly on farms, where crops are planted and certainly where there are fruit trees, orchards, etcetera, they would go in an organised fashion to do either the capture or the culling,” the minister explained in response to a question raised by St Philip North MP Dr Sonia Browne.
The minister insisted: “It is not a case of Barbadians walking around with a gun, as someone tried to project on Brasstacks on Sunday. We don’t have people walking around loosely shooting monkeys. That is a no-no.”
MP Browne also wanted to know whether any thought had been given to providing a food space for the animals.
Weir said a programme to plant fruit trees in gullies had been restarted to provide a food source for the monkeys.
He said the agriculture ministry had taken a responsible route, discussing with the Barbados Wildlife Reserve the most humane approach to the problem in which troops of monkeys were eating entire crops and sometimes entering homes.
One approach was to employ monkey trapping and offer an increased bounty for the legitimate hunters who must provide equipment and ammunition.
“You have farmers who are losing crops and that is their commercial activity, so how do we balance the two?” Weir questioned.
He told the House that it is a “very sinister act” for someone to give the impression that people are going around killing monkeys and even reporting it to police. He noted that ministry officials took into consideration all those who had an opinion on how the matter should be handled.
“We ended up with a final project that allows us to bring control to the situation that is taking place with monkey troops going all across Barbados. At the end of the day, our constituents are Barbadians who repose their trust and confidence in us to do right.
“If we are having a problem with monkey troops, we are not seeking to wipe them out. We are seeking clearly to bring balance to it and at some point in time, some will be culled, but not all and not in any disorganised fashion,” Minister Weir said.
(SP)
