Farmers with land holdings on forest fringes expect the government to expedite announcement on categorisation of wild boars as vermin, as it will pave way for the Forest Department to shoot the animals.
The wild boars have been causing huge losses to farmers, particularly those cultivating tapioca.
The animals rampaging farms turn ferocious and advance menacingly when attempts are made to chase them away, farmers in Anthiyur area said.
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They added that the scale of damage has been on rise in the last few years.
Damage caused to the fields has much to do with the rapid rate of its population expansion.
Wild boars or feral hogs that possess behaviour traits that enable them to adapt and quickly populate new areas reproduce at a fast pace.
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The increase in their numbers became noticeable, particularly in the Hassanur Division, Forest Department sources said.
They mostly eat plant matter and invertebrates such as worms, insects and insect larva, besides small mammals, newborns of larger mammals, and eggs and young of ground nestling birds and reptiles.
The symptom of straying out of the forest area is in itself a strong signal of the inadequacy of food in its natural habitat. “The animals have started coming out of the forest area to live in sugarcane fields in adjoining plains. During night hours, the animals move out and collectively cause devastation to other crops,” Logusamy, local functionary of Tamilzhaga Vivasayigal Sangam said.
Forest Department officials say the animals have high reproductive potential. They mature after crossing six months, and the litter size averages six piglets. Females (sows) give birth twice a year.
Since a census is impossible, the Forest Department conducted a wild boar abundance survey in the forest areas of Erode district in the last one year. Though the exact number could not be arrived at, a recommendation was made for culling the animals in order to safeguard forest ecology.
District Forest Officer of Erode Division Nagarajan confirmed that no official order has been issued so far for categorising wild boar as ‘vermin’.
Representatives of farmer organisations in Gobichettipalayam area wonder why Tamil Nadu was delaying the categorisation when the Telangana, Uttarkhand and Kerala governments have already showed the way to protect cultivators.
Subi Thalapathi, representative of Thadapalli-Arakankottai Ayacut Farmers’ Association, regretted that the State government had not acted on the long-pending demand of farmers.
The fact that a public hearing was conducted by a senior Forest Department official on the issue a few years ago at Sathyamangalam is a strong indication about the gravity of the issue, he said.
Farmers have been urging the government to
categorise the animals as vermin so that they can be shot