Goodbye Monkeys

Young Rhesus Macaques behind Guest House at Wildlife Institute of India

We moved out of the Wildlife Institute of India Guest House to our long-term home in a nice neighborhood a short distance away.  The new house is great but we will miss our constant companions at the Guest House, Rhesus Macaques, Old World monkeys that are commensal with humans here.   In India, they are thriving in urban and rural landscapes as a result of being welcome denizens of temples, worldly compatriots of the monkey-god, Hanuman, one of the major deities in Hinduism, and because of their impressive ability to flourish as roadside scavengers.  Three troops of 30 to 50 monkeys live within the W.I.I. campus boundaries.  One group was regularly on the rooftops, climbing the fence around and loitering on the tennis courts, and lurking behind our balconies at the guest house at W.I.I.  We were advised to bolt our windows and doors to the balcony as the Macaques are known to test the doors and windows daily in search of an unguarded room to loot for treats.