Delhi hires monkey whisperers as part of animal-proofing for BWF World Championships

As the BWF World Championships prepared to return to India after 17 years, the Sports Authority of India and the Badminton Association of India put in place measures at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Delhi to animal-proof the venue. The work combined structural changes with human teams assigned to keep monkeys and birds away from the courts.

Vents around the arena have been sealed, wooden doors replaced with a double-door entry system and an automatic outer door added ahead of the regular ones. Following a tip from the Railway Ministry, organisers applied a non-toxic gel—ordinarily used to protect railway wiring—around the stadium's ducting, and portable machines that mimic predatory birds were installed to deter pigeons from hovering over the courts. The move followed incidents at the India Open in January when pigeons twice halted a second-round match between HS Prannoy and Loh Kean Yew, and ensuing complaints over hygiene, conditions and Delhi's smog left the BAI on the back foot.

A man from Delhi named Jabbar, whose trade was passed from his grandfather to his father and then to him, has been engaged to help keep monkeys away from the World Championships venue. He said he has spent years chasing monkeys away from major auditoriums across the capital and is part of a four-man team assigned to work around the stadium. The method his team uses is vocal: they replicate the warning call of a langur to frighten monkeys from roofs and entrances. "When we shout like that, the monkeys run away. This method is effective," Jabbar said.

Jabbar emphasised that his team's approach considers the animals' safety, saying: "We also ensure the safety of the monkeys. We are careful that our voice doesn't force them to cross roads when vehicles are moving. Earlier, langurs used to beat the monkeys away." The team is paid Rs 25,000 a month through a tender, a sum Jabbar said reflects inconsistent and unglamorous work. "We don't get work on a consistent basis. But, in Delhi, around major venues, in north block and south block of the IGI Stadium," he said. "A lot of them are doing it. They are learning from us."

Jabbar described the craft as dwindling and said his son, who is in the second standard, would not be encouraged to follow him: "I learnt it from my father. But I don't want my children doing it," he said. Meanwhile more conventional upgrades to the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium continue: sixteen entrances across the first and second floors have been fitted with glass doors and an automatic double-entry system. The upgrades form part of roughly Rs 20 crore being spent to transform the venue.

Those building works and animal-control steps are part of wider preparations intended to ensure the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium can host the BWF World Championships, with organisers combining infrastructure changes and on-the-ground teams to limit disruptions during the event.