KOTTAYAM/KOLLAM: After tiger, leopard and elephant, it is a wild gaur that is spreading panic among farmers living on the forest fringe. Three farmers were gored to death by rampaging wild gaurs, also known as the Indian bison, in two incidents in Kottayam and Kollam districts on Friday. Forest Minister A K Saseendran announced a solatium of Rs 10 lakh to the relatives of each of the deceased and ordered deployment of a task force in the affected areas.
It was around 8 in the morning and Chackochan, 65, of Purathel House at Kanamala in Erumeli was sitting in the courtyard of his house, reading the newspaper. Suddenly a wild gaur came charging in and gored him. Chackochan died on the spot, his family said.
Thomas, 60, of Plavanakuzhy House was tapping rubber trees at his plantation when the wild beast came charging. A badly injured Thomas phoned his friend Joseph who rushed to the spot. “Both his legs were broken and there was a deep injury on his abdomen. He was bleeding profusely and the internal organs were damaged,” said Joseph. He rushed Thomas to the hospital with the help of local residents. However, Thomas succumbed to injuries at the hospital.
Kottayam District Collector P K Jayasree evoked section 133 (f) of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and ordered to shoot and kill the rampaging wild gaur. However, forest department has raised reservations over the legal validity of the order. The animal has returned to the forest and it can be shot only if it returns to the village. Besides it is difficult to identify the animal.
Official says plan on to dart, release wild gaur in forest; Farmers demand gun licence
“The wild gaur has been listed as a Schedule I species under Wildlife Protection Act 1972. The Chief Wildlife Warden has to submit a report citing reasons to kill it. We have deployed Rapid Response Team which will patrol the area. We are planning to tranquilise the gaur and release it in deep forest,” said Kottayam DFO N Rajesh. Samuel Varghese, 64, of Kodinjal Kunnuvila Veedu at Edamulackal near Anchal in Kollam, an NRI, had returned from Dubai on Thursday night.
On Friday morning, he stepped out of his house to attend to the crops in his farmland and was talking to a friend when the wild gaur appeared from nowhere and attacked him. His friend escaped by climbing a tree but Samuel was caught in front of the animal. “We were seeing him after a long time. But our happiness was shortlived,” said a family member.
“The village is located around five km from the forest area and we were surprised when residents informed us about the wild gaur attack. We have recently noticed the presence of wild gaurs at Oil Palm plantation in Panayam and the Government Agricultural Farm at Kottukkal. The animal was later found dead. It seems it was suffering from some infection.
We have sent samples for testing,” said Anchal forest range officer T S Saju. Meanwhile, tension prevailed at Melur in Chalakudy as a wild gaur was found roaming around residential areas in the forest fringes. The wild gaur charged at two persons who managed to escape with minor injuries. The forest department has deployed RRT to chase the wild gaur back to the forest. Saseendran said he has directed the DFOs of the respective regions to improve monitoring. “The Chief Wildlife Warden has been directed to improve patrolling in the affected areas.
Of the Rs 10 lakh solatium, Rs 5 lakh will be provided within two days as immediate relief. The rest will be provided after completing documentation,” the minister said. Meanwhile, farmers have demanded that a standing order should be issued to kill wild animals posing a threat to human life in forest fringe areas.
“The wild animals are straying to human habitations due to over population. The wild gaur population in Kerala recorded a four-fold growth between 1993 and 2011. After 2011, the forest department has not conducted enumeration. We demand the government issue gun licence to farmers living in forest fringe areas,” said Kerala Independent Farmers Association (KIFA) chairman Alex Ozhukayil.