Simian survey in India to rely on face recognition for precise count

Monkeys eat peanuts thrown by commuters along a street on a cold winter day in New Delhi on January 24, 2022. (Photo by Sajjad HUSSAIN / AFP)

A proposed census of the simian population in Delhi that will help tackle the monkey menace in the capital will likely use facial recognition technology so that the same monkey is not counted twice, officials claimed on Feb 21.

A fresh proposal to this effect has been prepared by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and submitted by the Delhi forest and wildlife department to Gopal Rai, Delhi’s environment minister, for approval.