Centre eases process to declare wildlife vermin

NAGPUR:Increasing man-animals conflict that causes damage to crops and other human property has led the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) to ask states to send proposals to declare wild animals vermin for specified period in a given area.
Once declared vermin, that particular species can be hunted or culled without restriction.
If implemented, it will apply to wild animals listed in various Schedules of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) 1972, other than Schedule I & Part II of Schedule II that lists most endangered and iconic species like tigers, leopards, and elephants.
“Provisions to declare wild animals as problem animals are already there in the WPA. The fresh advisory seems to ease procedure to eliminate problem animals. It indicates the thinking of new government at the Centre to eliminate problem animals to resolve man-animal conflict,” said a senior wildlife wing official.
The new advisory will apply to not only nilgais and wild boars that destroy crops but also to animals like wild dogs, chitals, sambars, langurs, and many species of birds that damage crops, they added.
MoEFCC has asked states to send proposals to declare wild animals or herds of them as vermin if they have become dangerous to human life or property, or if they have become so disabled or diseased as to be beyond recovery. While declaring animals as vermin, officials will not have to give any justification to hunt them as is the case with Schedule I animals like tigers and leopards.
The issue has come up amid pressure from politicians who have been raising man-animal conflict in Parliament, specially the problem of crop depredation by wild boars and nilgais. However, officials and environmentalists also fear protected species could be hunted in the name of eliminating vermin. They pointed out it was not easy for field staff to differentiate meat of chital from nilgai’s or wild boar.
State’s additional PCCF (ecotourism & wildlife administration) VK Sinha said, “PCCF (wildlife) has not submitted any proposal to declare any animal including nilgais and wild pigs as vermin in any part of the state. Any proposal of this nature is also not under consideration as of now.”
Sinha clarified that the WPA prohibits to naming iconic and endangered species like elephants and blackbucks as vermin. About pigs in Gevrai taluka in Beed (Marathwada), he informed that DNA analysis by Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, showed these were domestic pigs and hence outside the purview of WPA.
Despite specific advisories and guidelines from time to time for animals like tiger, leopard, bluebulls etc, the state governments are not equipped to deal with the situation, says MoEFCC. There have been suggestions from many quarters that species like bluebull and wild boar should be put in Schedule V (vermin) of the WPA so their populations can be culled.
The technical committee analysis by Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, for blue bull management and the recent recommendations by TSR Subramanian committee said that with this no purpose would be served. “We are examining this aspect too,” a MoEFFC official said.
There are already legal provisions for objective management of man-animal conflict. Section 11(1) a of the WPA authorizes chief wildlife warden to permit hunting of any problem wild animal only if it cannot be captured, tranquillized or translocated.
Besides, for wild animals in Schedule II, III or IV, chief wildlife warden or authorized officers can permit their hunting in a specified area if they have become dangerous to humans or property (including standing crops on any land).
Further, Section 62 of Act empowers Centre to declare wild animals other than Schedule I & II to be vermin for specified area and period. But no such proposals have been received by the environment ministry till now.
Interestingly, to mitigate man-animal conflict outside the protected areas (PAs), the Centre had sought proposals to grant aid to deal with conflict as part of the annual plan of operations under the centrally sponsored scheme (CSS) for Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats (IDWH).
“Hardly any proposal was received in this regard. Now fresh proposals are being sought,” officials said.
DECLARING WILD ANIMALS VERMIN
* Area with clear administrative boundary has to be defined in which notification is applicable
* Wild animal species to be declared as vermin and reasons thereof have to be mentioned
* Period for which notification is contemplated is to be stated
* The basis of recommendation like study, consultation, expert opinion and surveys etc need to be mentioned