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Rhesus macaque monkey next to badminton equipment
This week, the best badminton players on the planet assembled in New Delhi to compete in the world championship. The arena hosting the event had some issues with animals during a tournament that was held at the start of the year, and officials have taken steps to prevent monkeys from invading by hiring some experts who can mimic the calls of their natural predators.
India is home to more than 20 unique species of monkeys, and many people in the country that boasts an estimated 50 million of those primates view them as sacred beings due to their links to Hindu mythology (primarily Lord Hanuman, the so-called “monkey god” featured in the Ramayana).
However, they have a reputation for being a bit of a nuisance in urban areas. That includes New Delhi, which has spent years relocating thousands of them to more remote areas to combat the sizable population of monkeys (mostly rhesus macaques) with a tendency to rummage through trash, harass humans, and even break into homes in pursuit of food.
That city is currently hosting the Badminton World Federation World Championships, and organizers have gone out of their way to make sure monkeys won’t be a problem while they’re unfolding.
A group of “monkey whisperers” has been hired to prevent the animals from invading the BWF World Championships in New Delhi
The World Championships are being held at Indira Gandhi Arena, a 14,349-seat stadium in New Delhi that also hosted the India Open at the start of 2026.
It may technically be an indoor venue, but that didn’t prevent one match from being disrupted by the pigeon poop that dropped on the playing surface in the middle of a game the same week a monkey was spotted roaming the stands.
VIDEO : First pigeon droppings, now a monkey inside the spectator stands.
This is the India Open Badminton venue in Delhi.😓 pic.twitter.com/5U6ddrZxcQ— Rajat Jain (@RajatJain) January 15, 2026
Last month, Himanta Biswa Sarma, the politician who serves as the president of the Badminton Association of India, didn’t seem overly concerned about the monkeys, saying he would “give it a banana” if one of them showed up at a match he was attending.
However, according to the BBC, the organization has taken some steps to try to keep wildlife in the wild this week.
The outlet reports nets have “been installed over openings where birds or animals could potentially enter” to complement an effort to seal “gaps in the roof and exhaust vents,” but the most novel strategy is the monkey whisperers who’ve been tapped to do some pest control.
The macaques that roam New Delhi have a natural predator in the form of another type of monkey known as a langur, and the four men who’ve been hired to keep the former away say they are able to do so by imitating the call of the latter.
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According to AFP, that job is not without its hazards, as some of the monkey whisperers say they’ve been bitten by aggressive animals while trying to ward them away (the treatment for that particular ailment is “just chilli powder on the wound”).
We’ll have a chance to see how effective they are during the tournament, which officially began on August 17th and will wrap up on the 23rd.