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Group of monkeys kill over 250 dogs for 'revenge' in Indian town

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Re: Group of monkeys kill over 250 dogs for 'revenge' in Indian town

#21
post #8

If an instinct or circuitry around revenge can exist in monkeys, I wonder if humans can ever fully escape that tendency, or if it is just built into who we are.

Why is it something humans must "escape"?

Revenge is counter-productive most of the time. It's only really useful when you want to galvanize a population into suicide.

Otherwise you get into a cycle of revenge for revenge for revenge that wastes everybody's energy.

Re: Group of monkeys kill over 250 dogs for 'revenge' in Indian town

#22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have You ever tried to pull Yourself up to the top of a tree with 1 arm in 30 seconds?

Chimp muscles are stronger than ours but we are often stronger than them in absolute terms because we are bigger (more muscle mass).

We are not stronger, we have more stamina. There is a difference

Re: Group of monkeys kill over 250 dogs for 'revenge' in Indian town

#23

> villagers began attempting to rescue the dogs on their own. But some of them have found themselves subject to the monkeys' retaliation, and some have even injured themselves or fallen from buildings how strong are these monkeys? I mean I know monkeys are strong but can they really ambush a human, and push them over a ledge? can they kidnap a human, carry them upward and drop them over a ledge?

I'd bet a pair of them could pick up and throw a human; if they could get the co-ordination right. 50lbs of dog is a bad opponent for a human, 2 of them and humans lose that fight fairly often. Some of the dogs in the video I saw were that size and larger; so if the monkeys can harass and herd them effectively then I'd expect them to be able to do it to a human as well. A human prepared to fight and ready to start ki…

The article said the humans have "culled" about 1000 of the monkeys. It's interesting that we use different euphemisms depending on who's doing the killing.

Re: Group of monkeys kill over 250 dogs for 'revenge' in Indian town

#25

> villagers began attempting to rescue the dogs on their own. But some of them have found themselves subject to the monkeys' retaliation, and some have even injured themselves or fallen from buildings how strong are these monkeys? I mean I know monkeys are strong but can they really ambush a human, and push them over a ledge? can they kidnap a human, carry them upward and drop them over a ledge?

> can they really ambush a human, and push them over a ledge?

I would say male adult monkeys in my village can (males are bigger and stronger), although they don’t. They are fast, agile and acrobatic. Except for well prepared adult humans, monkeys can throw everyone else off a ledge.

Reason so many monkeys exist in India is because they are sacred animals (to Hindus, 80% population). In our village, no one can kill them. The most one can do is throw a stone to scare them away.

Re: Group of monkeys kill over 250 dogs for 'revenge' in Indian town

#26

> villagers began attempting to rescue the dogs on their own. But some of them have found themselves subject to the monkeys' retaliation, and some have even injured themselves or fallen from buildings how strong are these monkeys? I mean I know monkeys are strong but can they really ambush a human, and push them over a ledge? can they kidnap a human, carry them upward and drop them over a ledge?

Strength doesn't come into the picture with monkeys. They attack by biting and scratching and often from hidden places like tree tops or rooftops. In many parts of India, the dogs are afraid to even bark at them.

That said, adult monkeys are pretty big (3.5-4 feet) and aren't all that light weight.

Anecdotally, a baby monkey fell into our neighbors house through bars on the roof and a group of almost 100 monkeys surrounded the house and took them all hostage till the baby was given back.

Re: Group of monkeys kill over 250 dogs for 'revenge' in Indian town

#27

Philosophical question, assuming kt's not a fake news: are those monkeys "evil"? If they revenge is agains siblings of the aggressor or just dogs in general, I would say so. Looks like they are intelligent enough to be evil.

A terror attack on Christmas parade revelers in Wisconsin is what?

Re: Group of monkeys kill over 250 dogs for 'revenge' in Indian town

#28

If an instinct or circuitry around revenge can exist in monkeys, I wonder if humans can ever fully escape that tendency, or if it is just built into who we are.

Macaques are very intelligent animals, more importantly they are successful because of their Machiavellian tendencies, just like we are.

Unfortunately while this behavior is useful at conquering the world, it becomes counterproductive later on.

Re: Group of monkeys kill over 250 dogs for 'revenge' in Indian town

#29

Philosophical question, assuming kt's not a fake news: are those monkeys "evil"? If they revenge is agains siblings of the aggressor or just dogs in general, I would say so. Looks like they are intelligent enough to be evil.

> evil > profoundly immoral and wicked.

I think the concept that animal can be moral / immoral is already a philosophical subject. See the book "Can Animals Be Moral?" for reference.

And in order to say that these monkeys are evil, you must first prove that they can be moral.

Re: Group of monkeys kill over 250 dogs for 'revenge' in Indian town

#30
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it something humans must "escape"?

Revenge is counter-productive most of the time. It's only really useful when you want to galvanize a population into suicide. Otherwise you get into a cycle of revenge for revenge for revenge that wastes everybody's energy.

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