A Lion-Sized Problem

Kuno wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh was planned as the second home for the Asiatic lion after Gir. But instead of lions, locals were horrified to receive 250 rhesus macaques from Delhi, following a May 2004 Supreme Court directive that the monkeys be released in MP's forests. Worse, the monkeys arrived in June, a harsh period when forest resources are at their lowest.

The order didn't mention Kuno by name. It couldn't. The sanctuary can one day house two great cat species, the Asiatic lion and the Bengal tiger. Releasing the monkeys, potential tuberculosis carriers, could set the project back by years. Adds Asiatic lion expert Ravi Chellam, "These ecological dislocates, used to human handouts, will migrate to villages and grab what they can get, as they did in Delhi."

J.S. Chauhan, conservator wildlife, Gwalior, MP, will only say, "Kuno is the closest forest from Delhi; the monkeys would have suffered a longer transit." The episode seems yet another classic case of official bungling.