Lok Sabha Question No. 175 (STARRED), answered on 2021-02-12
Subject: Killing of Animals
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Suresh Kodikunnil

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

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *175

TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.02.2021

## Killing of Animals

## *175. SHRI KODIKUNNIL SURESH:

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

- (a) whether the Government has taken note of the incidents of killing of animals including elephants and leopards in Kerala;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government is aware of the rise in encroachments in buffer zones of forests across the country;
- (d) if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the  steps  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  reduce  the  conflict  between  people  and wildlife including action taken to prevent encroachments in forest buffer zones?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

- (a) to (e) A statement is laid on the Table of the House

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## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *175 REGARDING 'KILLING OF ANIMALS' BY SHRI KODIKUNNIL SURESH DUE FOR REPLY ON 12.02.2021

- (a) and (b) As informed by the Government of Kerala, several wild animals, including11 Elephants, 1 Leopard and 1 Tiger,diedin Kerala from 1 st January 2020 to 31 st January 2021 due to electrocution, hunting, poisoning, explosives, snaring/trapping, and vehicle hit . Details are given at Annexure .
- (c) and (d) State Governments/UT Administrations take care of conservation and protection  of  forests  and  wildlife  in  the  States/UTs.  TheCentral  Government supplements  their efforts by  providing necessary technical support and financial  assistance  under  various  schemes  to  protect,  conserve  and  manage forests and wildlife. Buffer  zone  is  not  defined  for  forests.  It  is  defined  only  for  Tiger  Reserves under the provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
- (e) Conservation efforts taken by the Government have resulted in increase in population  of  several  wild  animals  including  Elephants,  Tigers,  Leopards, Rhino, Asiatic Lions, etc. This along with the fact that the wild animals keep moving out of forests,often leads to negative interactions between humans and wild animals resulting in human wildlife conflicts. The important steps taken  by  Government  of  India  to  manage  and  mitigate  human-animal conflict in the country include:
- i. Funds are provided under National CAMPA for augmentation of fodder and water in forest areas for restricting wild animals to  forest  areas.  An  amount  of  Rs.  47,872.31  Crores  has  been provided  to  various  States  for  promoting  afforestation  and achieving green objectives of the country during 2019-2020.
- ii. Voluntary  relocation  of  villages  from  the  core  area  of  Tiger Reserves, National Parks and Sanctuaries is also being funded under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme: 'Integrated Development  of  Wildlife  Habitats'  as  proposed  by  the  State Governments for avoiding conflict
- iii. The Ministry provides financial assistance to States/UTs under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes of 'Development of Wildlife Habitats', 'Project Tiger' and 'Project Elephant' for management  of  wildlife  and  its  habitats  in  the  country.  The broad activities supported under these schemes include habitat enrichment andwater augmentation.
- iv. The funds are also used for construction /erection of physical barriers such as solar powered electric fence, bio-fencing using cactus,  boundary  wall,  animal  proof  trenches  around  forest, etc.
- v. The  financial support to the States/UTs also includes a component of compensation due to damage by wild animals.
- vi. Under the revamped operational guidelines of Pradhan MantriFasalBimaYojna (PMFBY), issued by the Government of India (effective from the year 2020), States can provide addon coverage for crop loss due to attack by wild animals.
- vii. Directions  have  been  sent  to  all  States/Union  Territories  for undergrounding  of  transmission  lines  upto  33  KV  in  forest areas and also maintaining transmission lines to avoid sagging.
- viii. Government of India has issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)/guidelines to manage HumanTiger/Human-Leopard /Human-Elephant conflict.
- ix. The Ministry, in the year 2018, has increased ex-gratia reliefunder the Centrally Sponsored Scheme in case of depredation by wild animals.
- x. To mitigate human wildlife conflict along linear infrastructures like  rail  tracks,  roads/highways  and  power  transmission  lines passing  through  the  Protected  Areas  and  other  wildlife  rich areas, the Standing Committee of National Board for Wildlife has  recommended  that  all  linear  infrastructure  development Agenciesshould  submit  animal  passage  plans  based  on  the guidelines prepared by Wildlife Institute of India.
- xi. The Ministry has approved a project for undertaking immunocontraceptive  measures  for  population  management  of  wild animals

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Annexure

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) AND (b) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *175 REGARDING 'KILLING OF ANIMALS' BY SHRI KODIKUNNIL SURESH DUE FOR REPLY ON 12.02.2021

## Details of wild animals killed

|   S.No. | Species                     |   No. of wild animals killed | Reason for death                                                              |
|---------|-----------------------------|------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       1 | Elephant                    |                           11 | Electrocution, hunting, poisoning, explosives, snaring/trapping, vehicle hit. |
|       2 | Tiger                       |                            1 | Electrocution, hunting, poisoning, explosives, snaring/trapping, vehicle hit. |
|       3 | Leopard                     |                            1 | Electrocution, hunting, poisoning, explosives, snaring/trapping, vehicle hit. |
|       4 | Indian Bison                |                            4 | Electrocution, hunting, poisoning, explosives, snaring/trapping, vehicle hit. |
|       5 | Sambar Deer                 |                           13 | Electrocution, hunting, poisoning, explosives, snaring/trapping, vehicle hit. |
|       6 | Peacock                     |                           29 | Electrocution, hunting, poisoning, explosives, snaring/trapping, vehicle hit. |
|       7 | Nilgiri Langur              |                            9 | Electrocution, hunting, poisoning, explosives, snaring/trapping, vehicle hit. |
|       8 | Bonnet Macaque              |                           10 | Electrocution, hunting, poisoning, explosives, snaring/trapping, vehicle hit. |
|       9 | Jackal                      |                            2 | Electrocution, hunting, poisoning, explosives, snaring/trapping, vehicle hit. |
|      10 | Large Bengal Monitor Lizard |                            2 | Electrocution, hunting, poisoning, explosives, snaring/trapping, vehicle hit. |