Time to Moove Out: After Monkey, Stray Cattle Removed from Taj Mahal Ahead of Trump Visit

New Delhi (Sputnik): After deploying “monkey police” (langurs) to protect US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump from aggressive monkeys that harass tourists visiting Taj Mahal, the authorities in the city of Agra removed stray cattle, oxen, and dogs from the roads.

As Donald Trump is set to visit the iconic Taj Mahal in Uttar Pradesh on Monday, the ancient city of Agra has been put under a security lockdown with restrictions imposed on residents from venturing onto the route of the US President Donald Trump between the airport and the famed 17th century Mughal mausoleum. 

Despite heavy security measures, the menace of the stray cattle, dogs, and mischievous monkeys in the city has been keeping the authorities on their toes.

Civic body of Agra has taken away around 200 stray cows and oxen in the last 48 hours and shifted them to different cow shelters and localities, away from the route of the visitors.

Will monkeys will listen to @narendramodi s #MannKiBaat, Taj mahal could spoil #TrumpVisitIndia trip...#NamaskarTrump pic.twitter.com/c3CyRj5ViZ

— HM Jyothish (@hmjyothish14) February 24, 2020

Cattle owners have also been warned to keep their herds indoors and under control on Monday.

In a crackdown on stray dogs on Saturday, the civic body rounded up dogs around the Taj Mahal and more than 40 dogs were captured to keep them out of sight ahead of the arrival of Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Doggy Taj has escaped the clutches of the Nagar Nigam in Agra and found refuge at the ASI office.

Stray cattle and dogs have been rounded up and packed off to Gaushalas ahead of the #TrumpTajTrip pic.twitter.com/LIVPSZnftL

— Shreya Dhoundial (@shreyadhoundial) February 24, 2020

The fear amongst the authorities has aroused from frequently reported incidents of attacks on visitors by cows and monkeys. In the most recently reported incident in February, a tourist from Denmark was attacked by a stray cow near the west gate of the iconic Taj Mahal and suffered serious injuries.

The city of Ahmedabad followed suit, and the Cattle and Dog Nuisance Control Department (CDNCD) had formed a special team to capture dogs and cattle within a 2.7km radius of the route from the airport to Motera Stadium, where the visiting US president and Indian Prime Minister Modi are scheduled to jointly address over 100,000 people on 24 February.