Kanamala (Kottayam): The authorities are seemingly grappling with the horns of a dilemma even as public anger is mounting against sporadic wild animal attacks in areas adjoining forests in Kerala.
The latest cases in point are separate incidents in which gaurs killed three people in Kerala's Kottayam and Kollam districts on May 19.
Soon after a gaur gored to death a man in Kanamala village in the eastern fringes of Kottayam district on Friday, the district collector sanctioned the animal to be shot at sight. However, the police and forest department expressed differences with the collector's order.
Collector Dr P K Jayasree passed the order in her capacity as the executive magistrate. The order was issued as per Section 133 of the Criminal Procedure Code which envisages the 'removal of unlawful obstruction or nuisance from any public place'.
The order is valid until Monday, she had stated.
The collector further clarified that the police can implement the order after getting special permission from the home department.
Revenue minister K Rajan agreed with the collector’s stand.
Meanwhile, the police were not ready to implement the order citing that only the forest department has the authority to shoot a wild animal.
As per the Wildlife Protection Act, only the chief wildlife warden has the authority to order the killing of a wild animal, forest department officials said. Based on this, the chief wildlife warden had passed an order on Saturday to tranquilise the gaur. The order did not mention killing the animal; instead, it stated, to do 'everything possible’ including tranquilising the animal.
A 50-member sqaud of the forest department, that set out in search of the gaur on rampage, included two veterinary doctors. While one group was prepared to administer tranquiliser shots during the search, the other group was armed with guns in case if the animal needed to be shot and put down.
According to the forest department, gaurs can be tranquilised only if they stray into human settlements.