A committee formed by the Tamil Nadu government to provide solutions for crop damage caused by wild animals recently visited Kerala to assess their wild boar culling practice.
Headed by the Chief Wildlife Warden, a panel comprising farmers, forest officials, an Agriculture Department official and wildlife experts on December 7 visited Ottapalam in Palakkad district of Kerala, which had empowered local bodies to cull wild boars using a licensed shooter or by entrapment. The move had raised eyebrows among animal welfare activists.
In Tamil Nadu, farmers from Coimbatore, Erode, Krishnagiri and a few other districts had requested the State government to declare wild boars as vermin and give nod to cull them. Farmer organisations in Tirunelveli requested the government to remove wild boars from the Scheduled List of protected animals of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972.
However, experts point out that wild boars, like any other animal, have their own role in the ecosystem.
J. Pandiyan, professor in the Department of Zoology and Wildlife Biology, AVC College, Mayiladuthurai, who is also a part of the committee, said a study has shown that wild boars are potential seed dispersers among ungulates.
The seeds found in the wild boars’ faecal matter showed that only 10% of the seeds belong to crops, and the remaining are forest plants, the professor said.
Antony Rubin, a member of the farmer-wildlife conflict management panel and the State Board for Wildlife, said from the field visits and presentations made by Kerala authorities, it was understood that no conclusive impact study has been done yet to infer that culling was useful. “It is up to the chair and other members of the committee to decide,” he said.
Srinivas R. Reddy, Chief Wildlife Warden, said the process followed by Kerala had both pros and cons. “That [culling] is always the last resort. We are still in the learning stage and exploring possibilities. The committee will come up with recommendations,” he said.
