Lok Sabha Question No. 1978 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-13
Subject: Fencing of Wildlife Sanctuaries
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: K. Muraleedharan, Raju Bista

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1978

TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.03.2023

## Fencing of Wildlife Sanctuaries

## 1978. SHRI K. MURALEEDHARAN: SHRI RAJU BISTA:

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

- (a) the steps taken by the Government for wild life protection;
- (b) the  present  number  of  tigers  in  the  country  and  the  extent  of  change  in  their strength during the last eight years;
- (c) whether the Government has any plan to bring Cheetahs from other places;
- (d) whether the Government has plans to bring wild animals other than Cheetahs in the country;
- (e) whether the Government has allocated any fund to the State of Kerala for fencing the  wildlife  sanctuaries  and  protected  forests  in  order  to  check  the  increasing human-animal conflicts and if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the  details  of  human-animal  conflict  happened  during  the  last  two  years  in  the country, State-wise?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a) The steps taken by the Government to protect wildlife in the country include the following:
- (i) The  Wild  Life  (Protection)  Act,  1972  provides  for  stringent punishment for violation of its provisions. The Act also provides for forfeiture of any equipment, vehicle or weapon that is used for committing  wildlife  offence(s).  Rare  and  endangered  species found in India, like Tiger, Snow Leopard, Great Indian Bustard, Gangetic Dolphin, Dugong, etc. have been listed in Schedule-I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 thereby providing them the highest degree of protection.
- (ii) Protected Areas, viz., National Parks, Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves  and  Community  Reserves  have  been  created  in  the country covering important habitats to provide better protection to wildlife, including threatened species and their habitat.

- (iii) Financial  assistance  is  provided  to  the  State/Union  Territory Governments under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of 'Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats' for better protection of wildlife and improvement of habitat.
- (iv) Local communities are involved in conservation measures through eco-development activities.
- (v) The Wild Life Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) coordinates with State/UTs and other enforcement agencies to gather intelligence about  poaching and  unlawful  trade in  wild  animals  and  animal articles. Alerts and advisories are issued by WCCB on poaching and  illegal  trade  of  wildlife  to  State  and  Central  agencies  for preventive action.
- (b) As per the country wide assessment completed in 2018, the tiger population in India was estimated to be 2967. The estimated population was 2226 as per the assessment done in 2014.
- (c) The Action Plan for introduction  of Cheetah envisages import of Cheetahs from South Africa, Namibia or other African countries.
- (d) No, Sir.
- (e) Financial assistance is provided by the Ministry to the States under centrally sponsored  schemes  for  activities  related  to  management  of  wildlife  and mitigation of human-wildlife conflict.  During the year 2021-22, a sum of Rs. 606.40 lakh was sanctioned by the Ministry to the State of Kerala under the Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  Development  of  Wildlife  Habitats  for human-wildlife conflict mitigation activities, including installation and maintenance of solar power fences.
- (f) As per the records available in the Ministry the number of human deaths due to attacks by tigers and elephants, are given in Annexure-I and AnnexureII .

***

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (f) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1978 due for reply on 13.03.2023 regarding 'Fencing of Wildlife Sanctuaries'.

## Number of Human Deaths caused by Tigers

|   S. No. | State          |   2021 |   2022 |
|----------|----------------|--------|--------|
|        1 | Bihar          |      4 |      2 |
|        2 | Karnataka      |      1 |      1 |
|        3 | Madhya Pradesh |      0 |      1 |
|        4 | Maharashtra    |     32 |     84 |
|        5 | Tamil Nadu     |      3 |      0 |
|        6 | Uttar Pradesh  |     11 |     14 |
|        7 | Uttarakhand    |      1 |      3 |
|        8 | West Bengal    |      5 |      1 |

## Annexure referred to in reply to part (f) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1978 due for reply on 13.03.2023 regarding 'Fencing of Wildlife Sanctuaries'.

## Number of Human Deaths caused by Elephants

| S. No.           | State     | 2020-21   | 2021-22   |
|------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1 Andhra Pradesh | 6         | NR        |           |
| 2 Arunachal      | Pradesh 0 |           | 2         |
| Assam            | 91        | 63        | 3         |
| Chhattisgarh     | 42        | 64        | 4         |
| Jharkhand        | 74        | 133       | 5         |
| Karnataka        | 23        | 17        | 6         |
| Kerala           | 20        | 25        | 7         |
| Meghalaya        | 6         | 2         | 8         |
| Odisha           | 93        | 112       | 9         |
| Tamil Nadu       | 57        | 37        | 10        |
| Tripura          | 1         | 2         | 11        |
| Uttar Pradesh    | 1         | 0         | 12        |
| West Bengal      | 47        | 77        | 13        |

*NR- Information not received from State