Crop-raiding monkeys are leaving hill farmers nothing to live on

Farmers and local authorities have tried everything to protect their crops—planting fruit trees in forests, cutting down trees near fields, firing guns to scare animals, and guarding farms all day—but nothing seems to work.

From east to west, monkey menace on farms has become a growing crisis across Nepal’s mid-hills, driving farmers to despair, emptying granaries and, in some places, forcing entire settlements to abandon agriculture and migrate elsewhere.