BENGALURU: It is a given that incidents of humans coming in conflict with elephants, leopards, sloth bears and tigers are high. But now, conflicts with peacocks too are on the rise over the last couple of years. The people and forest department officials have not been able to solve the problem as the peacock is not only listed under Schedule-1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, but is also the national bird.
During Covid, a number of peacock sightings in urban areas were reported. Since then, such straying has increased. People do not harm these birds as it is a delight to watch them dance and perch around. Initially people liked to photograph and videograph them, but over time they have turned into a menace. The most affected are farmers, who have approached the forest department seeking solutions to mitigate the conflict.
A forest department official said farmers’ complaints include peacocks damaging crops and eating grains sown and kept out to dry. Complaints are not just from areas around forests or the Bankapur Peacock Sanctuary in Haveri. They are pouring in from even dry patches of North Karnataka, Mandya, Tumakuru and outskirts of Bengaluru.
“They are now found everywhere as they have easily adapted to all sorts of climatic conditions and situations. Since they are omnivorous, food is not a problem for them. Though an increase in the peacock population is a good sign, it is now also a matter of concern as cases of poaching for meat and feathers could rise. There is also the fear of increasing road kills of peacocks, poisoning them to save crops and people harming them otherwise,” the official added.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife, Subhash B Malkhade, said, “There has been an increase in peacock population and the number of incidents of them coming in conflict with humans. So far, no record of the number of incidents has been kept, but complaints are being reported from across the state.”