Lok Sabha Question No. 62 (STARRED), answered on 2017-02-07
Subject: Human-Animal Conflicts
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: (ADV.) JOICE GEORGE, P.K.SREEMATHI TEACHER

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION No. *62

TO BE ANSWERED ON 07.02.2017

## Human-Animal Conflicts

## *62. ADV. JOICE GEORGE:

SHRIMATI P.K. SREEMATHI TEACHER:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  human-animal  conflicts  including  loss  of  human  lives  and  damage  to crops by wild animals reported in various parts of the country during the last three years and the current year, State-wise;
- (b) whether  the  Project  Tiger  and  Project  Elephant  Authorities  have  submitted  their reports on human casualties and if so, the details thereof, State-wise including Kerala;
- (c) whether any mechanism exists to reduce man-animal conflicts and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  protect  the  natural  habitat  so  that  man  and animal can live in harmony?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ANIL MADHAV DAVE)

(a), (b), (c) and (d) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a), (b), (c) and (d) OF THE  LOK  SABHA  STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  *62  REGARDING  'HUMANANIMAL  CONFLICTS'  BY ADV.  JOICE  GEORGE  AND  SHRIMATI  P.K. SREEMATHI TEACHER DUE FOR REPLY ON 07.02.2017.

- (a) Incidence  of  human-animal  conflict  and  death  due  to  such  conflict  are reported in various parts of the country from time to time. However, as the management  of  forest  and  wildlife  is  the  mandate  of  State  Governments, State-wise  and  year-wise  data  of  such  incidents  are  not  collated  in  the Ministry.
- (b) As per the report of Project Tiger and Project Elephant, state-wise details of human  casualty/  death,  including  Kerala  during  last  three  years  is  given  in Annexure-I and II.
- (c) The management of human-animal conflict is handled by State Government as per  Rules,  Guidelines  in  vogue.  Some  of  the  mechanisms  in  mitigation  of human animal conflict include :
- i. Provisions  provided  under  Section  11  of  the  Wild  Life  (Protection) Act,  1972, inter-alia, empowering  the  Chief  Wildlife  Warden  and authorised officer to take necessary steps to handle problematic wild animals.
- ii. Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)/ guidelines for management of major problematic animals like tiger, elephant, leopard, rhino etc are being used by the respective state governments.
- iii. Construction/erecting of physical barriers, such as barbed wire fence, solar powered electric fence, bio-fencing using cactus, boundary wall etc. to prevent the entry of wild animals into crop field.
- iv. Improvement  of  wildlife  habitats  by  augmenting  the  availability  of food  and  water  in  forest  areas  to  reduce  the  entry  of  animals  from forest to human habitations.
- v. The  Ministry  has  issued  guidelines  in  context  of  human-wildlife conflict to the Chief Wildlife Wardens of all the State Governments/Union  Territory  Administrations  dated  24 th December, 2014 and 1 st June, 2015. The Ministry has specifically sought proposal from States/UTs, after objective assessment of the situation, details of the areas in which it is essential to reduce the over-population of wild animals for specified period.
- (d) The important steps taken by the Central/State Governments for improvement of natural habitat of wild animals includes:
- i. A network of Protected Areas namely viz., national park, Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves and Community Reserving covering important wildlife  habitat  have  been  created  all  over  the  country  under  the provisions  of  the  Wild  Life  (Protection)  Act,  1972  to  conserve  wild animals and their habitats.
- ii. Financial assistance is provided to the State/Union Territory governments  under  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Schemes  of  'Integrated Development  of  Wildlife  Habitats', 'Project Tiger'  and 'Project Elephant' for providing better protection to wildlife, and improvement of its habitats.
- iii. The Ministry, with financial assistance from Ad-hoc Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), has formulated a scheme to provide assistance to the States  for  'Augmentation  of  Fodder  and  Water  in  Protected Areas/Forest  Areas',  aimed  at  improving  habitat  in  the  areas  by making  provision  for  augmenting  grass,  fodder  and  water  to  the wild herbivores.
- iv. The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 provides regulatory functions for taking up activities in National Parks and Sanctuaries to protect the wildlife habitats.
- v. Payment  of  ex-gratia  amount  to  victims  of  wild  animal  attack  is provided with a view to reduce retaliatory killings.
- vi. Periodic  awareness  campaigns  to  sensitize  guide  and  advise  the general public on man-animal conflict, including dissemination of information through various forms of media.
- vii. Financial assistance is provided under Centrally Sponsored Scheme  (CSS)  of  Integrated  Development  of  Wildlife  Habitats (IDWH) and Project Tiger for voluntary relocation of villages from within  Protected  Areas.  This  helps  in  moving  people  away  from wildlife rich habitats and thus reducing conflict situations.

***

## ANNEXURE-I

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (b)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  *62  REGARDING  'HUMAN-ANIMAL  CONFLICTS' BY ADV.  JOICE  GEORGE  AND  SHRIMATI  P.K.  SREEMATHI  TEACHER DUE FOR REPLY ON 07.02.2017.

State-wise details of human casualty/ death during last three years as reported by National Tiger Conservation Authority

| S. No.   | State             | 2013-14   | 2014-15   | 2015-16   |   2016-17 |
|----------|-------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    | 0 0       |           | 0         |         0 |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh | 0         | 0         | 0         |         0 |
| 3        | Assam             | 0         | 0         | 0         |         0 |
| 4        | Bihar             | 1         | 0         | 0         |         0 |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh 0    |           | 0         | 0         |         0 |
| 6        | Jammu &Kashmir 0  |           | 0         | 0         |         0 |
| 7        | Jharkhand         | 0         | 0         | 0         |         0 |
| 8        | Karnataka         | 5         | 4         | 2         |         0 |
| 9        | Kerala            | 0         | 1         | 2*        |         0 |
| 10       | Madhya Pradesh    | 2         | 6         | 6         |         3 |
| 11       | Maharashtra       | 3         | 8         | 0         |         3 |
| 12       | Mizoram           | 0         | 0         | 0         |         0 |
| 13       | Odisha            | 1         | 0         | 0         |         0 |
| 14       | Rajasthan         | 0         | 0         | 1         |         0 |
| 15       | Tamil Nadu        | 3         | 1         | 1         |         0 |
| 16       | Telangana         | 0         | 0         | 0         |         0 |
| 17       | Uttar Pradesh     | 8         | 0         | 1         |         4 |
| 18       | Uttarakhand       | 4         | 0         | 1         |         1 |
| 19       | West Bengal       | 9         | 14        | 18        |         0 |
|          | TOTAL             | 36        | 34        | 32        |        11 |

## ANNEXURE-II

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (b)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  *62  REGARDING  'HUMAN-ANIMAL  CONFLICTS' BY ADV.  JOICE  GEORGE  AND  SHRIMATI  P.K.  SREEMATHI  TEACHER DUE FOR REPLY ON 07.02.2017.

State-wise details of human casualty/ death during last three year as reported by Project Elephant Division

| State             | 2013-14                  | 2014-15                  | 2015-16                  |
|-------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|
| Andhra Pradesh    | 2                        | 2                        | NR                       |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 7                        | 1                        | 1                        |
| Assam             | 87                       | 54                       | 92                       |
| Chhattisgarh      | 23                       | 32                       | NR                       |
| Jharkhand         | 56                       | 53                       | 66                       |
| Karnataka         | 33                       | 38                       | 26                       |
| Kerala            | 7                        | 20                       | 6*                       |
| Maharashtra       | 0                        | 3                        | 0                        |
| Meghalaya         | 10                       | 3                        | 9                        |
| Nagaland          | 0                        | 1                        | 1                        |
| Odisha            | 67                       | 64                       | 63                       |
| Tamil Nadu        | 52                       | 31                       | 47                       |
| Tripura           | 0                        | 1                        | NR                       |
| Uttar Pradesh     | Information not received | Information not received | Information not received |
| Uttarakhand       | Information not received | Information not received | Information not received |
| West Bengal       | 69                       | 89                       | 108                      |
| TOTAL             | 413                      | 392                      | 419                      |