India hired four men to imitate a predator’s call and keep monkeys out of the World Badminton Championships, and it’s already been tested by bites

The Badminton World Federation World Championships are underway in New Delhi, and organizers have taken an unusual step to keep the 14,349-seat Indira Gandhi Arena free of unexpected guests. Four men have been hired to imitate the call of the langur, a larger primate that acts as a natural predator to the rhesus macaques that roam the city. As reported by BroBible, the goal is to prevent the macaques from wandering into the venue during matches.

The arena is technically indoors, but it has dealt with animal disruptions before. During a tournament held at the start of 2026, spectators spotted a monkey in the stands, and one match was interrupted when pigeon droppings fell onto the court. Organizers have also installed nets over openings where animals or birds could enter and sealed gaps in the roof and exhaust vents.

Rhesus macaques are a persistent presence in Indian cities, where an estimated 50 million monkeys live. Many people view them as sacred due to their ties to Hindu mythology and the deity Hanuman, even as the animals raid homes, dig through trash and confront residents in search of food.

Delhi has tried nearly everything else to manage its monkey population

Authorities have attempted various strategies to curb the conflict, including large-scale relocations to the Asola-Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary on the border of Delhi and Haryana. As detailed by Down To Earth, those efforts have struggled to provide a lasting fix, since monkeys removed from urban areas are often replaced by new troops moving into the same territory.

Data from the Primate Research Centre in Jodhpur showed Indian cities recorded about 1,000 monkey bites daily as of 2015. Primatologist Iqbal Malik has noted that tension between humans and monkeys is a relatively recent development, emerging mainly over the last 50 years as urban expansion encroached on the animals’ natural territory.

Wildlife interrupting scheduled events is not limited to badminton or to India. Similar mishaps have made headlines elsewhere, amid a viral fish interruption that overtook a routine game of fetch at a lake earlier this year. The job of keeping animals away from the badminton venue has proven risky in its own right.

According to AFP, some of the monkey whisperers have already been bitten by aggressive macaques during the tournament, and the treatment for those wounds is reportedly just chili powder applied to the skin. Gul Khan, a professional in the field for more than three decades, has relied on vocal mimicry since the government banned the use of actual langurs for pest control in 2012.

Large sporting events elsewhere have needed their own last-minute preparations this year, amid a stadium turf swap at several NFL venues ahead of the 2026 World Cup. Himanta Biswa Sarma, president of the Badminton Association of India, had previously joked that he would simply offer a banana if a monkey showed up at a match.

The tournament began on August 17 and is scheduled to run through August 23.