'Alcoholic' Monkey To Serve Life Term In Captivity After Attacking Over 250 People

A monkey in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh was ordered to serve life term in captivity after the animal bit over 250 people.

According to local reports, the monkey was the pet of an occultist who would regularly give the primate some alcohol to drink. The monkey became "alcoholic" over a period of time and when its owner died, the animal stopped getting alcohol following which it became aggressive.

The 6-year-old monkey then went on to bite over 250 people in the Mirzapur district. After receiving several complaints, forest officials caught the primate and brought it to the Kanpur Zoo in the state. On Monday (June 15), officials decided that the monkey will remain behind bars all its life.

"We kept him in isolation for some months and then shifted him to a separate cage. There has been no change in his behavior and he remains as aggressive as he was. It has been three years since he was brought here, but now it has been decided that he will remain in captivity all his life," zoo doctor Mohd Nasir told local media, adding that the monkey will harm people if it is set free.

Several incidents of monkeys attacking people have been reported in the state in the last few years.

Last month, monkeys stole COVID-19 blood samples from a government hospital laboratory after attacking lab technicians. The monkeys fled with three blood samples. After the news spread fear among the residents, officials confirmed that these were not the COVID-19 swab test samples.

"The samples that were snatched are not testing samples which comprise throat and tongue swab. These were blood samples that are taken from coronavirus patients during routine treatment. The Covid-19 samples are kept in a box, these samples are not," an official said.

In November 2018, a 12-day-old baby was found dead after he was snatched by a monkey. The baby was in his mother's lap when the primate snatched him and escaped. The family then found the baby lying blood-soaked on a neighbor’s terrace. The baby was rushed to a local hospital where he was declared brought dead.