I am always interested to find examples of arms races in security, here is a recent one. India has hired langur monkeys to protect the Commonwealth Games from other SImians that run wild in Delhi.
"Because they are large and fierce, langurs are often used in India to keep other monkeys in check in public places.
The New Delhi Municipal Council said it will put langurs on duty outside several venues starting Wednesday.
"We have deployed 38 langurs and it is a very effective way to scare away the common monkeys," NDMC spokesman Anand Tiwari told Reuters. "We take these langurs on rent. Their trainers accompany them and once the assignment is over, they return home.""
Hopefully this will work, but the FT is cautious in its editorial Monkey Business:
This tactic has limits. If the langurs slip their handlers and run amok, the answer will not be to reach for the next size up: that route ends with the proverbial 800lb silverback. At some point, man must re-engage with ape.
Past human-ape collaboration has reflected well on all involved. Intrepid chimps have ventured into space. Apes of a thespian bent have cut a dash on the big and small screens. And others have forged careers as painters, albeit of an abstract school. Works by a chimpanzee named Congo, whose fans included Dali, Picasso and Miro, sold for a five-figure sum.
Comments