Monkeys caught from villages as well as urban areas and left in jungles are killed in droves every year, owing to highway accidents.
More than 12% of the roadkills on the Srisailam highway through Amrabad Tiger Reserve, are of Rhesus Macaque, the primate most commonly seen roaming human habitations. Rhesus Macaque is not an endemic species to Nallamala Hills and its members are left here after being caught from municipalities and panchayats, officials from the Forest department say.
Unable to survive in the wild, the monkeys hang around the highway feeding off morsels thrown by travellers and occasionally coming under the tyres of the passing vehicles.
Together with Bonnet Macaques, Langurs and other primates, they occupy the second place in the number of roadkills, only after reptiles.
Since 2017, the forest department has counted a total of 208 wildlife roadkills on the 85-km stretch, and of those, 58 are primates, including 26 Rhesus Macaque.
Snakes and reptiles of all varieties constitute a whopping 97 of the casualties, with Red Sand Boa most frequent at 11. Other common faunal victims of highway accidents include monitor lizards, langurs, civets, spotted deer, wild pig, and porcupine, among others.
Though the figures are collated over the past four years, data collection has been streamlined only during the last couple of months, officials say.
Each forest range officer has been asked to fill out a proforma at the end of every month with data about wildlife casualties, and a social media group has been started where forest watchers and officers are expected to post information about each roadkill with geographical coordinates.
After the system is put in place, a total 59 roadkills were reported only during October this year, indicating a serious challenge for conservation.
Vehicles speeding at 80 to 120 km per hour are to be blamed, despite presence of signboards along the highway indicating the speed limit of 30 kmph inside the tiger reserve.
“Our hands are tied, as the road belongs to the National Highways. Our requests for speed-breakers are rarely heeded, and there is absolutely no enforcement of the speed limit,” an official shared.
Despite the bloodshed, proposals have been made for widening of the road further, which as of now stand rejected by the department.
