A farmer named Shrikant Gowda in south India came up with a unique idea to save the crops at his farm from thieving monkeys, by 'transforming' his guard dog into a guard tiger.

Gowda painted his one-year-old Labrador named Bulbul with black stripes like a tiger, seen here on December 2, to keep wild monkeys from his farm at Naluru village in Shivamogga village, Karnataka.

Gowda's farm has coffee and cardamom crops, but monkeys had become a local pest, destroying a large number of crops.

The idea came from a suggestion of Gowda's father, who commented that monkeys only fear tigers.

Reportedly the idea worked, with Bulbul being taken for walks twice a day across the farm, and for the past three months no monkey has stolen crops.