In India, Monkeys Are Taking Over. That’s Why People Are Being Hired To Scare Them.

The city came up with a better idea that doesn’t involve any more animals.

India’s parliament added 40 employees to its payroll last week. That’s good news for the economy and great news for people who would like to make a career out of pretending to be a monkey.

That’s because all of the new hires will be mimicking the sounds of langur monkeys to keep macaque monkeys away from a government complex in Delhi.

Previously, real langurs were used to keep the macaques–who roam freely as strays through Delhi–from the buildings, but that practice was put to an end after being deemed animal cruelty. The men hired to scare the monkeys have undergone training to sound like langurs, but will not be required to wear a costume or anything to make them look like the parliament protectors they’re replacing.

The monkeys are literally everywhere.

So, instead of letting the primates take over…

Macaques have been a problem for the people of Delhi for years now, but because they are considered by Hindus–who make up over 80% of Delhi’s population–to be sacred, killing them is completely out of the question. Other potential solutions to what is commonly referred to as “monkey menace” include shooting at the simians with rubber bullets and putting them on birth control.