THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A collective of environmentalists, ecological scientists and legal experts has expressed concern over Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s recent advocacy for hunting as a solution to human-wildlife conflict. They issued a statement urging the state government to abandon such measures and instead adopt a science-driven, ethical and legally sound wildlife management policy.
The statement warned that the proposal for controlled hunting is not only ecologically dangerous but also in direct violation of India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act. The collective called for an immediate moratorium on any wildlife culling proposals unless backed by scientific and legal scrutiny.
“The evidence is clear. The state‘s wildlife is not exploding, it’s disappearing. The elephant population has fallen by 58% in five years, and Wayanad’s tiger count has dropped nearly 30% since 2018. Between 2016 and 2024, 763 elephants have died in the state, compared to 139 human fatalities in man-elephant conflicts," they said.
They also pointed to repeated Nipah outbreaks in wildlife corridor-linked districts like Wayanad and Kozhikode as a warning of the zoonotic risks coming from habitat fragmentation and increased human-animal interaction.
Calling the hunting proposal “reactionary and misinformed,” the collective demanded the commissioning of independent, multidisciplinary studies into the root causes of human-wildlife conflict, including land-use change, climate impacts, and invasive species. They urged the state to focus on habitat restoration, conflict-preventive planning, and community-based coexistence models instead of punitive measures against wildlife.
“If Kerala as a literate state can’t uphold ethical, ecologically sound practices, who else can?” the statement questions, comparing India’s legal framework to Australia and Europe, where humane pest control and public ethics are central to wildlife governance.
The appeal was signed by conservationists, scientists, and activists, including representatives from SPCA Idukki, Prakruthi Samrakshana Samithi Wayanad, Environment Protection and Research Council Thiruvananthapuram, and the Munnar Environment and Wildlife Society.
The statement concludes with a call for the state government to “protect, not persecute,” and to invest in long-term, evidence-based solutions that preserve both human safety and ecological integrity.