Kerala wants wild boars declared as vermins; seeks central support for human-wildlife conflict

Thiruvananthapuram: The state government has sought special assistance from the central government to mitigate the human-wildlife conflicts. In a memorandum submitted to Union Minister for Environment and Forests Bhupender Yadav, State Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran requested that the central government bear a portion of the compensation for deaths and crop damage. The state has requested ₹10 crore for this purpose.

The minister also emphasised the need to amend the 1972 Wildlife Protection Act to suit the present times. He mentioned that the Union Minister assured consideration of moving monkeys to Schedule II of the Act, enabling the state government to implement measures to control monkey-related disturbances.

The state has also reiterated its demand to declare wild boars as vermin. Additionally, the Union Minister has requested more evidence regarding the demand to regularise and grant title deeds to farmers who settled on land before January 1, 1977.

Members of the Legislative Assembly’s Forest, Environment, and Tourism Subject Committee, including C.K. Hareendran, Sunny Joseph, P.S. Supal, Eldhose Kunnappilly and Najeeb Kanthapuram as well as MP Dean Kuriakose and Chief Wildlife Warden Pramod G. Krishnan, were part of the delegation who accompanied minister Saseendran.