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Attack and retreat: Margalla monkeys in Pakistan



A colleague and I decided to walk up one of the nature hiking tracks in the nearby Margalla Hills, the backdrop to the picturesque Islamabad. We were advised to head for Track #5, about 5 km long, less popular than Track #3 and reputedly more beautiful. So we took the road less travelled.

The Margalla Hills is a range at the base of the Himalayas in Islamabad, Pakistan, believed to be 40 million years old. The elevation is 685 metres at the western end and 1,604 metres at the eastern end. The vegetation comprises deciduous and evergreen trees, such as pines, eucalyptus, mulberry and oaks, with a range of shrubs. It is particularly green and lush at this time of year. Wildlife includes Rhesus monkeys, jackals, birds (such as eagles, hawks, crows, and sparrows), snakes, wild boars, porcupines and mongoose. We were warned about the aggressive monkeys that have increased in number over the years, and their habit of expecting food from hikers or rummaging through the litter bins.

Soon after we commenced the walk, we were already taking photographs – of birds, butterflies, rocky hilltops, wildflowers, dense foliage, and running water in the flowing stream. The track is thin and rocky, gradually rising up hills.

In the thick bushes of Track 5 we could hear the rustle of monkeys. A concrete slab on the path marks each 100 metres. At about the 2 km mark, we could see monkeys in the trees: quite a few of them. The first one was rather large, heading into the bush – others were swinging on the tree branches. We stopped, wondering whether to proceed further.

Suddenly a monkey darted out of the bush and charge toward us. My first reaction was to run – and fast, which I did. Expecting my younger colleague to overtake me, I was aware that I couldn’t hear her behind me. I stopped and turned around. She was facing the monkey which had stopped in the middle of the track: it eyeing her, and her roaring at it. At the same time she was walking backwards. She tripped on a rock, landing on her rear. My concern was that the monkey would charge at her again and jump onto her while she was down on the ground, so I grabbed her under her arm pit to lift her up (while juggling my camera with my left hand and trying to record the event). The monkey just sat in the middle of the track staring at her. We retreated down the track, terminating our grand idea to reach the summit.




MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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