The deputy mayor of New Delhi died over the weekend. Cause of death: monkeys.

The Indian capital is home to 10,000 wild monkeys, a fact that had not been a problem until recently. Now that buildings have replaced most of their natural habitat, the simians regularly burst into offices, courts, parliament, and, in this case, an apartment complex. Authorities believe the 52-year-old city official slipped over his guardrail while fending off a band of the violent macaques.

With the death of his deputy, the mayor of New Delhi admits that the city is unprepared to deal with the scourge. “We have neither the expertise nor the infrastructure to deal with the situation," he says, according AFP.

Many have tried to clamp down on the pesky primates. However, most efforts have met strong resistances from devout Hindus, who believe the macaques are the incarnations of Hanuman, the monkey god.

Right now, the capital’s best defense is, well, bigger monkeys. “Over the years, city authorities have employed monkey catchers who use langurs – a larger and fiercer kind of monkey – to scare or catch the macaques,” reports the AP. “But the problem persists.”