Durban - VERVET monkeys have fallen victim as a result of the lockdown as people at home attack them and try to chase them off their property.
This has left animal organisations such as Monkey Helpline and the Centre for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (Crow) admitting more primates since the start of the lockdown.
Steve Smit, founder of Monkey Helpline, said they had been very busy and, with more people being at home, were receiving calls daily about monkeys and intolerable people who were shooting at them with pellet guns, paint ball guns or air guns.
“We’re getting a lot of calls about neighbours shooting with pellet guns and we’re getting a lot of monkeys shot with pellet guns. We’re also
having monkeys attacked and bitten by dogs.
“On Monday, we had two incidents where little vervets were bitten by really big dogs,” said Smit.
He said they admitted between three and six injured monkeys daily and more than 75% of those monkeys ended up dying.
“We recently rescued a female monkey in eManzimtoti with 11 pellets in her body,” Smit said.
“She had to have her arm amputated because someone had shot
her with another weapon which smashed her elbow and the lower part of her arm.”
Smit said people needed to understand that there was not an invasion of monkeys.
They were just seeing more because they were spending time at home because of the lockdown.
Alexandra Kögl, marketing and communications officer at Crow, said their monkey admissions had increased twelvefold since the start of the lockdown.
Kögl said between March and April 4, “the alarming amount” of admissions of vervet monkeys was
the highest in the organisation’s 40-year history.
“In total, 27 monkeys were admitted to the centre in March, but only four survived. Fifteen died from shootings or complications due to shootings like broken backs, broken limbs and internal bleeding. In most cases a pellet gun was used.”
She said they believed the sharp increase in monkey admissions was due to the lockdown and the public’s fear of being infected with the virus.
Various food outlets have spread false reports that the virus can be transmitted from being around animals - wild or domestic.
“We would just like to reiterate that there is no evidence that the virus can be spread from being around animals. Please stop harming the monkeys,” she said.
“We’d like to encourage the public to treat all living things, including animals, with respect and tolerance as we go through this challenging time in the country.”
Kögl said if anyone spotted someone using a pellet gun on a monkey, they should call their local SPCA.
A person does not need a licence to own an airgun in South Africa, but the use of an airgun is regulated under the Firearms Control Act.