Kerala govt empowers local bodies to legally exterminate wild boars

The Kerala government on Wednesday said the local authorities would now have the power to legally exterminate wild boars that may be posing a threat to life, property, and agriculture.

The decision was taken during the day by the State cabinet, a release issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said.

Last week, State Forest Minister A K Saseendran said the State government would soon empower the heads of local bodies with Magisterial powers to declare the animals as vermin and eliminate them.

He had said the wild boar attacks are ''rampant'' in various hilly areas of Kerala and the next meeting of the Cabinet is expected to decide to provide Magisterial powers to presidents of Gram Panchayats and chairman/chairpersons of municipalities in affected areas for declaring the animal as a vermin and shooting them.

In today's Cabinet meeting, the government also laid down guidelines on how to kill and bury the animals.

The Cabinet said that Gram Panchayat President, Municipal Chairperson, and Corporation Mayor may be appointed by the government as Honorary Wildlife Warden under the Wildlife Act.

The Chief Wildlife Warden may appoint the Gram Panchayat Secretary, Municipal Secretary, and Corporation Secretary as authorized officers under the Act to deal with the wild boar menace, according to the release.

In the meeting, it was also decided that the boars were not to be killed using poison, explosives, or electric shocks and while exterminating them, the officials have to ensure that human lives, property, livestock, and other wildlife are not harmed.

The carcass of the wild boars should be buried scientifically and its details maintained in a register by the local bodies, the Cabinet decided in the meeting, according to the release.

The Forest Department would be responsible for controlling wild boars in small forest areas of up to 100 acres, the Cabinet decided.

Earlier, the Union Environment Ministry had rejected the Kerala government's request seeking permission to declare wild boar as a vermin, saying allowing the citizens to cull the animal would create more harm than good.

The Kerala High Court, in July last year, had permitted the killing of wild boars on agricultural land of a few farmers as the steps taken by the State government to curb the menace had not yielded any result.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)