THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala’s success with wildlife conservation may well become a bane for the state, feel experts. The rise in man-animal conflicts and increasing threat to human life have left a section of conservation scientists doubting whether “too much perfectionism” by Kerala in implementing wildlife conservation laws and projects has, in turn, resulted in a surge in the number of tigers, elephants and other wild animals.
“The human-animal conflicts Kerala is witnessing is in fact a second generation issue of conservation,” Sajeev Velayudhan, Chief Scientist at Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), told TNIE. He supported ecologist Madhav Gadgil’s suggestion of licensed killing to regulate population explosion of wild animals.
“The issues the state is facing now are a result of doing something with too much perfection. We created a situation where none would dare enter forests. As part of conservation, we protected elephants, tigers and other animals. Now, their population has increased considerably,” he said.
Kerala does not need to continue such projects from time to time, Sajeev said. “We need a relook into the projects. Time has come to limit the increasing wildlife population in Kerala; to amend the Wildlife (Protection) Act (WPA), 1972,” he said.
Sajeev said moving tigers out of Wayanad can only be seen as an intermediate solution. “Controlling their population is the permanent solution,” he said. On the government’s plan to go for contraceptive methods in elephants, Sajeev said the forest itself is a self-regulating system. “We have to create a situation conducive for the system to operate. Other than that, human intervention for regulating their population is not right,” he said.
Sajeev also said culling was required to keep the wild animal population in check. Citing the examples of wild boars, he said, “In the case of wild boars, there are predators inside the forest. However, once they are in human habitats, they cease to be so. Humans won’t kill wild animals as there are legal issues. So, the countryside is a safe zone for the animals,” he said, adding that by culling, one meant creating a predator pressure outside forests.
“Gadgil spoke about licensed hunting outside of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. You can see wild boars in Alappuzha, a district that does not have forests. This means the wild boar population has increased,” Sajeev said.
He said after the Kuthiran tunnel work in Thrissur was over, people abandoned the old road. “Now, there is the possibility that animals in Peechi wildlife sanctuary will move to the other side of the road. There are chances that a new human-animal conflict zone will get created,” he said.