Most monkeys get up to their share of wickedness—remember Marcel, the capuchin on Friends, who got a little over-eager with the ladies and had to be sent to a zoo?
But in Punjab, India, where more than 65,000 wild primates live, a naughty monkey is no laughing matter. The monkeys are moving into human habitats, and will often attack people while in search of food. They can also cause serious property destruction, ripping apart electrical equipment and damaging motorcycles, among other atrocities.
And it’s not just bad for the people—the monkeys suffer, too. “Besides people landing in hospitals after encounters with monkeys, the animals also often get hurt when house owners try to chase them away or keep them out by using live electric wires and other means,” Punjab’s wildlife warden, RK Luna, told the BBC.
But Punjabi officials have a solution to rehabilitate the worst-behaving monkeys: monkey school.
The new school, which will eventually house up to 100 monkeys, will provide the primates with trainers who will work to tame their aggression, and help them learn to behave more like the wild animals that they are supposed to be.
While they’re not likely to learn reading, writing, and ‘rithmatic at their new school, hopefully, they’ll ace their etiquette test by the time they graduate. Or at least manage to refrain from stealing bananas out of their teachers’ hands.