In a verdict aimed at reserving the forests only for wild animals and preventing multiple threats faced by them owing to the entry of domestic cattle, the Madras High Court has directed the Forest Department not to allow any domesticated cattle to venture into the forest areas across Tamil Nadu for grazing.
Justices V. Bharathidasan and N. Sathish Kumar issued the direction while disposing of a public interest litigation petition filed by G. Thirumurugan alias Theeran Thirumurugan in 2020 to forbear the Forest Department from issuing permits for grazing of domesticated cattle inside the Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary in Theni district.
The judges took note of the submissions made by conservation biologist Priya Davidar, who had been appointed as amicus curiae to assist the court, that cattle density inside the forests negatively affected the density of wild herbivores such as deer, gaur and elephants owing to the competition for forage.
