Govt plans measures to tackle human-animal conflicts

Thiruvananthapuram: Forest and wildlife department announced a series of urgent measures to address the growing threat of wildlife attacks on human settlements across the state.

A special meeting of MLAs representing constituencies sharing forest boundaries was convened under the chairmanship of forest and wildlife minister Shibu Baby John to discuss long-term solutions to human-wildlife conflict. Addressing the meeting, John announced that a “total defence” system would be implemented along forest borders to prevent wild animals from entering populated areas. He said regions facing severe wildlife intrusion, including Wayanad, Aralam and Kothamangalam, would be given immediate priority under the department’s mitigation efforts.

Six elephants that had entered inhabited areas were successfully driven back into forests on Tuesday, demonstrating department’s intensified response measures, said the minister. He said wild boar incursion issue would be addressed on a priority basis. The successful three-tier defence system implemented at Irulath is set to be expanded to other forest fringe areas experiencing frequent wildlife disturbances.

Minister Sunny Joseph noted that state repeatedly urged central govt to declare wild boars as vermin to facilitate more effective population management measures, but approval was yet to be granted. He called for increased funding for wildlife conflict mitigation programmes.

Minister T Siddique stressed the need for forest department to establish its own implementation mechanism to ensure efficient and transparent utilisation of funds allocated for wildlife prevention measures.

Former minister K Rajan urged govt to provide adequate compensation to victims of wildlife attacks irrespective of whether the incident occurred inside or outside forest boundaries. He said compensation policies should focus on the impact on affected families rather than the exact location of the incident.

The meeting concluded with a consensus on strengthening preventive measures, improving coordination between departments and accelerating long-term solutions to reduce human-wildlife conflict in Kerala.

The meeting was attended by ministers Joseph and Siddique, former minister Rajan, legislators and senior forest department officials.