Nepal, June 10 -- Recently, a group of Gen Z journalists sat down for a discussion on contemporary issues. One shared a chilling update from her village in Gorkha. After the 2015 earthquakes, the settlement started being deserted. Today, the entire place has shrunk to merely three households.

Her remark that followed the update surprised everyone in the room. She sighed. "I am worried my parents will be mauled by monkeys one of these days."

This is the reality of rural Nepal. The monkey menace has been a problem for most of Nepal's hills for years now. Entire settlements are emptying out. Across the hilly belt, thousands migrate annually because monkeys empty the granaries.

The total monkey population in Nepal is estimated at around 50...