Local bodies authorised to kill wild boars in Kerala
Killing of wild boars is illegal as per the Wild Life Protection Act, but due to increasing wild boar attacks on humans and crops in Kerala, there has been a demand for help to effectively tackle the menace.
From January 2021 to March 2022, as many as 21 farmers have been killed in wild boar attacks and 103 have been injured. (Representational) In a move that is expected to bring relief to farmers in Kerala, the state Cabinet on Wednesday decided to consign to local self-governing bodies the authority to kill wild boars that raid crops and foray into human settlements.
Killing of wild boars is illegal as per the Wild Life Protection Act, but due to increasing wild boar attacks on humans and crops in Kerala, there has been a demand for help to effectively tackle the menace.
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An official communication said the state government can appoint presidents of local bodies as honorary wildlife wardens as per the Wild Life Protection Act. The chief wildlife warden can appoint the secretaries of the local bodies as the persons authorised to kill the wild boars. All local bodies should maintain a register of the wild boars, which would be killed in their respective areas. The service of local village committees can be used for killing the wild boars. However, poisoning and electrocution of the animal would not be allowed, the communication said.
The state government decision came after the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change rejected Kerala’s demand that wild boars be declared as vermin as per Section 62 of the Wild Life Protection Act, 1972.
The previous CPI(M) government had authorised owners of licenced guns to shoot down wild boars. However, that did not help address the menace due to an acute shortage of licensed guns.
From January 2021 to March 2022, as many as 21 farmers have been killed in wild boar attacks and 103 have been injured.
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