Khotang, April 13 -- An expert team has arrived in Diktel to begin work on sterilising monkeys. The six-member team reached the town on Sunday to carry out preliminary monitoring and study under the government's pilot programme.

Locals have long demanded action, saying monkeys have been destroying crops and disrupting daily life in villages.

The issue escalated last year when mayor of Diktel Rupakot Majhuwagadhi Municipality, Tirtha Raj Bhattarai, staged a hunger strike in Kathmandu from July 27 to August 3, calling for a national policy to manage monkeys and other wildlife. He ended the protest after reaching a 16-point agreement with then forest minister Ain Bahadur Shahi and health minister Pradip Paudel.

Following the agreement, a ...