The Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) has discouraged locals from feeding the wild monkeys in the Margalla Hills National Park to prevent instances of aggression or conflict with them.
Due to its proximity to the Margalla Hills National Park, the F-7 sector is frequented by wild monkeys wandering into residential areas as the people continue to feed them despite the IWMB’s warnings about their harmful behavior that stems from relying on human food.
The IWMB’s Scientific Committee has been working on a strategy to prevent the monkeys from straying into the city, and a meeting has been called in this regard as well.
Human empathy and affection for animals and wildlife could be harmful as human food often causes diseases or damage their health.
An IWMB official stated that its Forest Guards repeatedly warn the public to refrain from feeding boiled corn or other eatables to monkeys and other animals from the national park.
“There have been many instances of human-wildlife conflict in the National Park when the monkeys attacked visitors for not feeding food. This is the ultimate consequence that needs to be prevented,” he stressed.
The official also explained the reasons behind this warning, saying that the monkeys or other wildlife species do not need human food as their nutritional needs are met through prey or food available in their natural ecosystem.
Human intervention merely damages this cycle and forces the animals to rely on being fed on human food, leading to damage to their natural ecosystem.
The Tufts Wildlife Clinic in Massachusetts, USA, stated that people’s appreciation of wildlife is encouraging but feeding could result in illness or injury for the animal.
People’s food isn’t good for animals. Human foods aren’t nutritious enough for animals and may cause serious health problems. A deformity called ‘angel wing’ is commonly found in ducks, geese, swans, and other waterfowl who are fed white bread, popcorn, crackers, or other people’s food.
This is Pakistan, you can’t tell people to avoid doing something just by putting a sign board. If wildlife department wants to see better results, they need to have staff members go to locations where visitors usually stop to see the monkeys and perform vigilance there.