AHMEDABAD, April 26: The State Forest Department, which has failed to check the black buck menace in north Gujarat, has another problem of the same kind on hand. Thousands of Neelgai are wreaking havoc upon farmers' crops in parts of north and south Gujarat.Sources in the Forest Department said that the Neelgai are so abundant and are creating so many problems that the Government is ready to kill them. But the farmers, who consider the animal holy, prevent them from doing so.In some areas, the farmers are even domesticating Neelgai calves to prevent them from being harassed by dogs.Some five years ago, the Neelgai herds were of five or ten animals. But now there are thousands in the Amreli, Bhavnagar, Mehsana, Gandhinagar, and Ahmedabad districts.The herds eat up crops, destroying vast fields in minutes. They are bigger, heavier, hard to catch and consume much more than the black bucks.Chief Forest Conservator (wildlife) G A Patel says the number of Neelgai has increased severalfold.Patel said the problem was not of Gujarat alone. There are other states, too, such as Rajasthan, where Neelgais are destroying crops. But they are looking forward to Gujarat to initiate action.Sources in the Forest Department said that they knew of farmers taking to domesticating the animals. Anyone who does so, faces up to three years in imprisonment or Rs 25,000 in fine, or both under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.Forest Department officials say that they aren't yet doing anything as the villagers do not intend to harm the animals. Top
