The Tamil Nadu Government, as its neighbour Kerala did a few years ago, should take immediate and sincere steps to remove wild boar from the Scheduled List of Protected Animals of Wildlife Protection Act 1972 to save the farmers, who can hunt down this wild animal herds causing extensive damage to the crops, the farmers have urged.
“If the Tamil Nadu Government is still not interested in accepting this genuine and long-pending demand, the farmers across Tamil Nadu will boycott the upcoming Parliamentary elections,” said agriculturist Abraham of Kaanaarpatti near here during the farmers’ grievances redressal meeting chaired by District Forest Officer R. Murugan on Friday.
As the Department of Forest convened this meeting at the Office of the District Forest Officer for the first time, Mr. Abraham said the wild boars and the spotted deer coming from the Gangaikondan Spotted Deer Sanctuary in search of food and water were causing extensive damage to the standing crops in Kaanaarpatti, Madhavakurichi, Vengalapottal, Therukkupatti, Naanjaankulam and other surrounding areas.
“While the spotted deer run away from the field as we chase it, the wild boars charge towards the farmers, who even suffer grievous injuries in the attacks. We, go in for rain-fed crop cultivation in our region and we suffer anywhere between ₹2 lakh to ₹3 lakh every year due to wild boar invasion. Hence, the Tamil Nadu Government should remove the wild boar from the scheduled list of protected animals so that the farmers themselves can hunt them down as they invade the ranches,” Mr. Abraham appealed.
Backing him, farmer Balakrishnan of Sivagiri in Tenkasi district said the Tamil Nadu Government, which was according highest priority to the wild animals’ safety by strictly enforcing law, was not keen on saving the farmers, who were continuing this profession despite a range of odds like monsoon failure, skyrocketing prices of fertilizers and pesticides, wild animal invasion etc.
“If we cultivate tubers, groundnut, maize etc., the wild boars would camp inside our fields itself. We cannot enter the ranches as it would attack us. But we cannot resort to any defensive act which would end-up killing the wild boar. If it happens, we’d be put behind the bars. So, for the Tamil Nadu Government, the safety of the wild animals is paramount and not the safety and wellbeing of the farmers, who contribute to the State’s productivity,” said Mr. Balakrishnan.
The farmers also complained that the wild boars that mostly camp inside the bushes grown on government ‘poramboke’ grasslands were even damaging the fences erected around their ranches.
“Please take steps to relocate the wild boars far away into the hilly regions to save the farmers. Or take steps to remove it from the list of protected animals so that the hunting of invading animal will check to a greater extent,” said the farmers, who also wanted the government to give subsidized assistance to erect solar electric fence around the fields.
Accepting the farmers’ arguments, Mr. Murugan replied that the Department of Forest had fully understood the unbearable loss being caused by the wild boars to the farmers. “Hence, we’ll recommend to the government seeking steps to remove the wild boars from the list of protected animals as being demanded by the farmers facing severe crop loss. Or, we’ll seek the government’s advise to address this issue,” Mr. Murugan said and assured that his department would take due steps to create food and water inside the reserve forest to check the animals coming out in search of these basic needs.
The DFO also explained to the farmers that relocating of wild animals, especially spotted deer, would be extremely risky exercise, as this highly timid and sensitive animal would die on being chased or caught.
“We, with the help of the farmers, will identify volunteers in every village facing wild animal invasion to alert the forest personnel whenever the animals raid crops. Moreover, sufficient steps will be taken for helping farmers to erect solar fence around the farms,” he informed, assuring that getting crop damage compensation would be simplified.
