Cutting monkeys to size, zipline style in Kerala

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When Bonnet macaques began threatening cool-season vegetable farms at Vattavada in Idukki, an innovative idea from a farm owner and his worker helped drive the animals away.

K.V. Subrahmany, a plantation worker, devised a makeshift zipline system rigged with puppets across the farm. The idea struck him after seeing a zipline tourism setup nearby, which he adapted to deter the intruding primates.

Farm owner V.P.S. Sethuraman noted that the monkey menace poses a severe threat to local farmers in Vattavada.

“Large numbers of monkeys arrive from the nearby forest and completely destroy vegetable crops across farms. When my worker noticed the tourism zipline, he shared the idea, and we planned a temporary setup. We secured the zipline using two small iron bars and mounted puppets on it,” Sethuraman said.

The system proved to be an immediate success. Whenever workers spot monkeys entering the fields, Subrahmany pulls the line, sending the puppets sliding rapidly down the cable. Startled by the sudden movement and noise, the monkeys quickly flee the area.

“Since we installed and began operating the zipline, the monkeys haven’t entered our farm. However, we have noticed that they now gather in neighboring farms and damage crops there instead,” Sethuraman added.

Following the success of this low-cost innovation, neighboring farmers are now planning to adopt similar measures to protect their crops.

According to local agriculturists, Bonnet macaques pose a widespread threat to farming communities across the district.

A 45-day mitigation drive conducted by the Forest Department last year identified Bonnet macaques, Malabar giant squirrels, and wild boars as primary culprits behind crop loss in the State. These smaller species, once considered relatively harmless, are increasingly at the centre of human-wildlife conflict.

This is not the first creative deterrent used in the region. In 2022, personnel at the Cumbummettu police station near the Kerala–Tamil Nadu border in Idukki placed rubber snakes around the compound to scare away aggressive monkeys that were harassing officers. While the decoy snakes worked initially, the monkeys eventually realised the reptiles were fake and returned to the station premises.

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