No monkeying around: Indian brides hire apes to keep pests from ruining their wedding

Wedding rings – check. Brass band – check. Large, aggressive monkeys – check.

Anxious brides wanting the perfect wedding day are leaving nothing to chance in the Indian city of Agra, hiring large monkeys and their handlers to keep pesky smaller ones at bay.

Grey langurs are becoming increasingly common at outdoor weddings to ward off their natural enemy, rhesus monkeys, which are known to gatecrash and wreak havoc, an official said today.

“The langur-handlers are much in demand during the winter wedding season,” Ram Avtaar, an official in the city’s municipal corporation, told AFP by phone.

“They usually charge up to 3,000 rupees (HK$375) if booked in advance but the rates can go up to 10,000 rupees in case of an emergency when monkeys have already entered a venue.”

Though revered in the majority Hindu nation, monkeys are a major menace in many cities, trashing gardens, office and residential rooftops and even viciously attacking people for food.