The government will enact a new order which will allow farmers to shoot and kill wild boars which invade farmland and maraud the crops, Forest Minister K. Raju said in the Assembly on Thursday.
Though an order was issued regarding this in 2013, the conditions listed out under which farmers were allowed to shoot wild boars had been so strict that not a single wild boar has been killed by farmers so far, the Minister said.
Considering the explosion in the population of wild boars and the increasing incidents of crop loss reported by farmers because of the invasion by wild animals into farmlands, the government will issue the new order with relaxation in the conditions, he said.
Increasing incidents of man-animal conflict was a cause for concern and the government was expediting all measures to prevent wild animals from entering human habitation in search of food.
The population of wild animals inside the State forests seemed to be increasing. Radio collars for wild rogue elephants and an SMS alert system for warning people about the presence of marauding elephants, a system which had been found to be effective in Wayanad and Munnar, will be extended across the State, Mr. Raju said.
KIIFB driven
He said that digging trenches which can prevent the invasion of elephants was an expensive affair and ₹100 crore would be made available through the KIIFB for the purpose. An amount of ₹25 crore had already been released and the same would be made available again this year so that the Forest Department can expedite the process.
In reply to a question by Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, he said that since wild animals were coming into human habitats in search of food, the Forest Department had been asked to plant more fruit trees inside forest clearances and ensure supply of water by conserving natural water reservoirs so that the animals do not come into conflict with humans.
