“Wild animals have replaced the role of landlords, who were previously the main source of conflict for farmers,” says Thomas K D, a 69-year-old cashew farmer whose crop yield has shrunk to two quintals from the seven before. Sitting at his cashew plantation with banners protesting against official apathy, he blames his losses on monkey attacks.
Thomas’s complaint is only a sign of the quiet disquiet in areas bordering the Kottiyoor wildlife sanctuary, in the foothills of the lush Western Ghats, in Kerala’s Kannur district. He is among the over 20,000 residents in Kottiyoor village whose livelihoods depend directly or indirectly on agriculture. Most of the population in Kottiyoor farms crops such as bananas, rubber, dry copra, pepper, arecanut, and cashew.
