The Forest department will prepare a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to prevent incidents like the one in which three persons were gored to death by gaurs in Kottayam and Kollam, Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran has said.
The SOP would be prepared in three days by a team headed by the Chief Wildlife Warden, the Minister said on Monday. It would focus on pre-empting human-wildlife conflict instead of reacting to them. The Minister said a 24x7 toll free number had been introduced to alert Forest officials about wild animals entering human habitat.
Rapid Response Teams (RRT) of the Forest department would be provided with modern equipment and deployed in more hotspots of human-wildlife conflict across the State. The Minister said efforts were on to activate Vana Samrakshana Samithis and Jana Jagrata Samithis in the hotspots.
A press note quoting the Minister said the Forest department would simultaneously launch a scientific investigation into why wild gaurs, which were usually timid, turned violent and attacked humans.
It added that the government would re-issue the order allowing local bodies to shoot wild pigs that pose a menace to citizens. The order would be extended by another year.
The Minister added that the government was also looking at the possibility of amending the Central Wildlife Act to find a resolution to the human-wildlife conflict.
