Mother Macaque’s Advice…

Bonnet Macaque mother holding her child

Stay close to me, my child,

Maybe this is the only place secure in the wild,

Macaque troop fights can get nasty,

For now I am there to look after your safety,

If the other group wins then peril looms upon our group and family,

They may change the order of life here rapidly, 

Some might have to leave their home,

Searching for a sanctuary they roam,

Our sustenance depends on forests and trees,

We search for locations where we can get some peace, 

Earlier there were various wild regions,

But such areas have now reduced for many reasons,

Earth at present is controlled by another prolific breed,

Are other species falling victims to their greed?

With lesser jungles to stay, 

Some wildlife has only one way,

To sustain along with emerging human settlements,

Use of land and resources can cause conflicts and arguments,

Some people consider us as clowns,

For some we are reason for frowns,

Our status among humans is always a mystery, 

Revered by some and abhorred by many,

Living a monkey’s life close to humans is quite tricky,

Every action we take can be risky.

Individuals feeding wildlife; destroying animals’ health is a matter of concern, 

It’s easy food for us but dangerous diseases we earn in return,

Offering edibles may alter our behaviour,

Turning some timid foragers into dreadful snatchers there are a lot more reasons for our misbehaviour, 

Some macaques fall victim to road accidents,

If you take care while driving on roads near jungles that might avoid such unfortunate incidents,

Respect the fact that we are wild animals in our habitats,

Be careful as most of us are mischievous animal acrobats,

Remember these skills are not for your entertainment, 

Primates are not ‘cute’ pets and that’s the reality over which we lament,

In the race of the ‘privileged’ to acquire an ‘exotic’ pet,

Homo sapiens are destroying wild simian families like ours’ around the world without any regret,

Mammals like us love to live, move and interact socially with our own group,

Solitary confinement will put our lives in a disturbing loop,

Many ‘owners’ don’t even know how to deal with us,

This can lead to an existence in deplorable conditions and too much fuss,

Thankfully in many places now we are not used as subjects for experiments,

That earlier led to harassment, many injuries and even deaths,

Currently I have shared many factors you might fear in the future, 

Be alert even when you wake up from this stupor, 

Still there are more dangers lurking in the real world out there,

For now you are my child, safe as your mother is here…

© Nishand Venugopal. All rights reserved.