LIFE's video: Sacred City Monkeys Life

Sri Lanka’s “Monkey Camp”: One Of The World’s Longest Running Studies Of Primates In The Wild There are many reasons why we loved Disney Nature’s epic nature documentary, Monkey Kingdom; the nostalgia-inducing Disney-esque soundtrack, the breath-taking scenery, and the good healthy doses of education, tragedy, comedy, and drama all in one pleasant jumble. We saw the law of the jungle play out, but also caught glimpses of how these creatures are more like us than we could have ever imagined. There were (simian) politics, love entanglements, and even a happy ending! But what probably sent us into raptures the most was the fact that this film was shot entirely in Sri Lanka amidst the sweeping ruins of Anuradhapura, with an all star cast of our very own rilawas, the toque macaques. Ape and monkey menace in Anuradhapura, especially in the sacred city area and suburbs, causes inconvenience to residents, tourists and pilgrims who visit Anuradhapura. An incredible city of the past, Anuradhapura brings to life sacred historic sites, neem and bodhi trees, which are home to langur monkeys. Apart from harassing the public, they destroy fruit and vegetable cultivations in the areas. Devotees carrying lotus flowers and milk rice as offerings, are severely harassed by apes and monkeys who dominate the area. They snatch milk rice, fruits and flowers and consume them. Those who arrive at Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi premises are not allowed to perform religious observances and rituals as their pooja items are often taken away by monkeys. Monkey Kingdom’s main characters are lead female Maya, a low-caste being, her newborn son Kip, the troop’s alpha male Raja, a trio of high-status females called The Sisterhood, and Kumar, a newcomer wishing entrance to the tribe. The struggle of mother Maya brings tears to viewers’ eyes. The monkeys’ struggle for power is also well documented in the movie, adding some adventure, and viewers may spot some recent political parallels. The monkey clan inhabit Castle Rock. Raja controls the group with an iron fist. A new team using strategic tactics lure the rock’s inhabitants into the jungle and defeat Raja’s party. Raja himself loses the troops’ leadership to Kumar, who plays monkey politics wisely, building relationships with many monkeys. This will surely make flashes of comparison of recent political events in Sri Lanka although the film’s production began three years ago. It was, however, resident primatologist Dr. Wolfgang Dittus’ research that made this movie possible. German-born Dr. Dittus has been studying macaques in Sri Lanka for nearly 50 years, the longest-running monkey study of all time.His research proved invaluable to the film crew. His knowledge of the monkeys in Polonnaruwa allowed the filmmakers to understand their social structure, day-to-day lives and individual personality traits. As a result, they could choose their “stars” wisely and approach filming in an informed way, telling the troops’ true story as it unfolded. Anuradhapura Government Agent D. P. G. Kumarasiri discussed about the monkey menace from wildlife conservation officials during a District Agriculture Committee meeting recently. The government agent proposed Wildlife Range Protection Officer W. A. Sarath to make arrangements to catch apes and monkeys from crowded areas and release them to the Wilpattu sanctuary. Monkeys boost Lanka as a nature destination Sri Lanka Tourism Promotions Bureau Chairman, Rohantha Athukorala hopes the worldwide release of Monkey Kingdom will be a massive boost to Sri Lanka’s visibility due to “screen-based” marketing, where tourism in a country featured in a popular movie increases due to movie enthusiasts visiting the original location.The tourism bureau used the launch of the film in the United States in April to promote Sri Lanka there, and did the same in China.Mr. Athukorala said the bureau was pursuing the possibility of setting up a “Monkey Kingdom” in the Disneyland Park in Shanghai.The next major release is in France, in November, and the bureau will launch a drive there promoting Sri Lanka as a nature destination.These events clearly indicate the importance of wildlife to Sri Lanka. Often seen as pests, the monkeys are helping to promote Sri Lanka. Environmentalists point out this alone should be a reason for protecting the remaining wildlife habitats of Sri Lanka, which could attract more tourists, bringing in much-needed foreign exchange.Monkeys invade houses, becoming a nuisance because of the fault of the humans themselves. Dr. Dittus warns people not to offer food to monkeys and not to even throw food out if monkeys are hanging around as food and water will attract them to homes, leading people to regard them as a threat or nuisance.