Monkey business
Human-primate conflict and causes Western purple-faced langur. Picture courtesy: Simon D. Blaettler In a classic display of defense, Simon lifted his arms, exposing the excruciating wound, the pain of which he would have articulated had he known how to verbalize. “When I went close, he grabbed some leaves and gravel from the ground and made it as if to put it in his mouth,” said Kamani Weerasekera, resident of Makumbura Kottawa. Kamani guessed it right when she thought that he was hungry. When she gave him a banana, Simon grabbed it and gobbled it up without ceremony. An hour or so passed before officers from an already overwhelmed Wildlife office at Battaramulla came to the scene. Simon was coaxed into a cage. Yes, Simon is not his name. Monkeys don't have names. At best they have numbers that researchers use for reference purposes. When Weekend Nation later called up the Wildlife office at Battaramulla to inquire after our anonymous monkey from Makumbura Kottawa, they claimed tha...