Thiruvananthapuram: The Centre has rejected Kerala government's plea to declare wild boar as a pest, reasoning that carnivores would be deprived of prey.
The Kerala government had formally urged the Centre to allow culling of wild boars by declaring it a pest, citing loss of human life, crops and property. However, repeated requests by the State have been met with rejection from the Centre. In fact, this is the third time that the Centre has responded negatively to Kerala’s plea in a year.
Incidents of wild boars invading farmlands adjacent to forests and attacking humans are rising by the day in Kerala. Apart from crop loss, several people have been injured and, in some cases, even killed in their attacks.
However, there seems to be no solution to the problem at present as there are restrictions on killing boars as it is protected under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
Extensive hunting, ecological imbalance
According to the Government of India, if wild boar is declared a pest, large-scale hunting of the animal will occur and beasts like tigers and leopards will soon begin to starve, causing an ecological imbalance.
A letter stating these reasons was sent by Union Minister for Forests and Environment Bhupendar Yadav to Kerala Forest Minister A K Saseendran, in response to the latter's latest request that was raised on April 16.
Considering the serious threat posed by wild boars, the forest department had issued an order a year ago permitting those with licensed guns to kill the animal.
