Humanoid scarecrows dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields are a common sight in Indian villages, meant to discourage birds and animals from growing crops. These tricks, however, don't always work, leaving farmers to come up with new techniques. This time, the farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri used an unconventional method by donning bear costumes to frighten monkeys that damage their sugarcane crop.
News agency ANI also posted a few images of these farmers wearing bear suits while sitting in the middle of the fields.
''Farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri's Jahan Nagar village use a bear costume to prevent monkeys from damaging their sugarcane crop,'' wrote ANI while sharing the images on Twitter.
See the pictures here:
A farmer said that they had to resort to this method after authorities paid no attention to the matter despite receiving the information. He further said that several farmers contributed money and bought a bear costume for Rs 4,000 to protect the crops.
He told ANI, ''40-45 monkeys are roaming in the area and damaging the crops. We appealed to authorities but no attention was paid. So we (farmers) contributed money and bought this costume for Rs 4,000 to protect our crops.''
After the pictures went viral, Sanjay Biswal, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Lakhimpur Kheri said, “I assure farmers that we will take all measures to stop monkeys from damaging the crops.''
Meanwhile, the pictures have prompted a wave of concern for the farmers, and many sympathized with them. Others were amused and lauded the farmers for coming up with such a concept.
One user wrote, ''UP and their jugaad. Not so long ago cops shouted "thain thain" to imitate gunshots!''
Another commented, ''Someone is sitting in a bear costume in 40 deg C to save their crops from monkeys!'' A third said, ''We need a better solution to tackle the monkey menace. The damages, physical and financial, they cause every year is insurmountable.''
A fourth said, ''An example of apathy, innovation, self-reliance, adaptability, etc!''
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