Chennai: Farmers in Coimbatore, frustrated with what they describe as an ineffective official response to rising wild boar incursions, have decided to form their own 15-member squad to capture and eliminate the animals from agricultural fields.

At a meeting in Karadimadai, Perur, the Tamilaga Vivasayigal Sangam resolved to create a team of experienced farmers after repeated petitions to the Forest Department allegedly failed to yield results.

Farmers say unchecked wild boar attacks have caused severe crop damage and mounting financial losses over the past year.

The move marks a direct pushback against the Tamil Nadu government’s regulated culling order issued in January 2025.

The policy bans culling within one kilometre of the forest boundary, permits capture-and-release between one and three kilometres, and allows trained forest personnel to conduct regulated culling beyond three kilometres. Farmers argue that these restrictions are unrealistic in practice.

Sangam President T Venugopal said the order does not reflect ground realities, where wild boars routinely enter fields located well within the prohibited zones.

“We have been demanding changes to the order to allow farmers to cull wild boars entering cultivated areas. Even after 11 months, the Forest Department’s action has been minimal,” he said.

Venugopal said that the newly proposed farmer squad will focus on capturing wild boars entering farmlands to reduce crop damage. The association insists the initiative is a necessary step to protect livelihoods amid escalating conflict with wildlife.

However, District Forest Officer N Jayaraj warned that farmers cannot legally undertake culling operations. “Only forest staff are authorised to cull wild boars, and only beyond the permitted three-kilometre zone,” he said.

Jayaraj added that forest personnel have culled two wild boars in the Madukkarai range and captured more than 50 since the order came into effect.

While the Forest Department maintains that action is ongoing, farmers say the measures are far from sufficient, highlighting the need for a more actionable and flexible policy framework as wild boar incursions intensify across western Tamil Nadu.