Ananova:

An elite academy for army officers in India says its training programmes are being ruined by a gang of monkeys.

The National Defence Academy in Pune - the Indian equivalent of Sandhurst - is now seeking professional help.

It says the langur monkeys are disrupting training exercises, attacking cadets, vandalising equipment and ripping up plants.

"They descend in groups and make a mess of everything," an official told Pune Newsline.

The academy admits it is stumped by the problem and has put out a tender calling for qualified organisations to 'control the monkey menace'.

Officials want the monkeys tranquillised, sterilised and released back into the wild.

But the tender has angered forestry officials who say the academy's jungle location gives monkeys the right to roam.

Forest officer Vishwas Bhadale said: "The area originally belongs to animals and the academy will have to live in harmony with the animals."