: Do wild boar in Kerala get to live? Panchayats get the power to decide #IndiaNEWS #National By Rajendran KKozhikode, June 25 (IANS/ 101Reporters) On June 1, around 10. 30 p. m. , EP Raju, a licensed

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Do wild boar in Kerala get to live? Panchayats get the power to decide #IndiaNEWS #National
By Rajendran KKozhikode, June 25 (IANS/ 101Reporters) On June 1, around 10. 30 p. m. , EP Raju, a licensed gunner empanelled with the Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department, shot down a wild boar that had entered his father EP Yohannans farm in Kodancherry village in Keralas Kozhikode district — this was the first recorded incident of culling after the department empowered local self-governments to cull wild boar to curb their growing menace.
Im thankful to Kodancherry panchayat president Alex Thomas for granting me the requisite permission. I request all farmers to take quick action, otherwise, no crop will survive in any village located on the fringes of the forest, said 94-year-old Yohannan.
Farmers who suspect that wild boar are attacking their farm now need to seek permission from the panchayat president, who can depute a licenced gunman to cull the animal. Earlier, the farmer had to procure this permission from the forest department, but the procedure was cumbersome and resulted in inordinate delay.
While Rajus family celebrated the licensed killing of the boar, theres no respite for Thomas, as about 6,000 of the 9,000 households in his jurisdiction are incurring huge losses in agriculture due to wild boar attacks.
There are hundreds of boar here, and we have only five licenced gunmen to tackle them. Im worried the farmers in my village will continue to incur more losses, said Thomas. Under the new rules, he is the honorary Chief Wildlife Warden with the same powers as State Chief Wild Warden.
Panchayat heads like Thomas will see a need for more licenced gunmen, and already district collector offices, which have the authority to approve gun licences after obtaining clearances from the police as well as the revenue and forest departments, are seeing an increase in applications.
On May 25, after issuing an order to empower local bodies with culling rights, Kerala Minister of Forests AK Saseendran said, This is a new experiment; there are bound to be some shortcomings. The government is trying to tackle the menace without violating the Wildlife Protection Act.
A senior forest officer, on condition of anonymity, said they didnt know the exact number of wild boar in Kerala, as no detailed survey had been conducted before the culling orders were issued. The last wild boar census was conducted in Kerala in 2011; it stood at 48,034.
Though the panchayat should bear the cost of culling, in most cases farmers might have to bear the initial costs, which is tough on those whose farms have already been affected by boar attacks, the forest officer added.
To avoid poaching, farmers are even forbidden from selling the meat after the kill.

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