KOZHIKODE : The chief wildlife warden on Wednesday gave permission to kill the bison which claimed the life of 70-year-old farmer Palattiyil Abraham, of Koorachundu. The move came after Abraham’s relatives, local residents and farmer groups organised a protest demanding an order to shoot down the killer bison. On Tuesday, the chief wildlife warden had ordered to tranquilise and capture the animal. However, the decision to kill it was taken at the meeting held at the Collectorate in which the district collector, forest officials, the relatives of the deceased, Congress leaders and MP M K Raghavan attended.
“Before killing the animal, it should be established that the same bison killed the farmer. Maximum effort to tranquilise the animal shall be taken as per the existing rules, acts and guidelines in vogue. If the animal cannot be tranquilised or captured, and it is established that the same animal was responsible for the death of Abraham, then the animal shall be killed under section 11 (1) (a) of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, with strict adherence to the provisions of the section and the guidelines in vogue,” stated the order issued by D Jayaprasad, principal chief conservator of forests and chief wildlife warden, Kerala.
The postmortem examination of Abraham’s body is scheduled to be held on Thursday at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital. Saji, son of Abraham, said, “We demanded a government job for one family member, Rs 50 lakh as compensation and the order to kill the animal as soon as possible. However, the forest officials mentioned that they can only take action based on various rules and acts,” he said.
Thamarassery Bishop Remigius Inchananiyil said that the government is not taking any measures to curb the rising wild-animal attacks. He said the forest minister should step down from the post if he is not able to provide security to the people. “If wild animal attacks continue, we will kill those animals. We will rule the hilly regions if the government fails to fulfil their responsibilities and we have enough power and system to do so. The government should also ensure the livelihood of the family of the deceased by offering them government jobs and compensation, said Thamarassery Bishop.
Detail steps taken to ensure water to wildlife: HC to govt
The High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to inform it about the steps taken to ensure availability of water to wild animals in the forests of Idukki and Wayanad. The government filed an affidavit detailing the long- and short-term strategies for mitigating human-wildlife conflict in the district. The government informed the court that K Vijayanathan, chief conservator of forests, eastern circle, has been appointed as a special officer to oversee human-wildlife conflict issues.
