Rising temperatures, brutal heatwave, and dying rivers led to a “rare and strange” fight over water and subsequent deaths of more than a dozen monkeys in India.
One of India’s longest and most intense heat waves in decades, with temperatures reaching 123 degrees (about 51 Celsius), has claimed at least 80 lives since it began in May.
The searing heat, scarcity of water, and fight for survival has spilled over from the cities to the jungles. Officials recently found the carcasses of 15 monkeys in and around forest caves in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
It is believed that the monkeys ripped each other apart while fighting over water. Autopsies carried out on some of their corpses showed that a few may have died of heatstroke and dehydration after being chased away from watering holes by larger competitors.
PN Mishra, district forest officer, told NDTV that the river had been a water source to six separate groups of monkeys. After it dried up, the monkeys had to rely on a limited amount of water.
“We’re probing all possibilities, including the possibility of conflict between groups of monkeys for water in the forest which led to the death of 15 monkeys from a 30 to 35-strong group of monkeys living in the caves. Certain groups of monkeys which are large in number and dominate that particular part may have scared away the smaller group of monkeys from the water bodies. This is rare and strange as herbivores don’t indulge in such conflicts.”
