Lok Sabha Question No. 2179 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-05
Subject: Steps to Check Wild Animal Attacks
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Shri K C Venugopal, Adv K. Francis George, Prof. Sougata Ray

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2179

TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.08.2024

## Steps to Check Wild Animal Attacks

## 2179: PROF. SOUGATA RAY: ADV K. FRANCIS GEORGE: SHRI K C VENUGOPAL:

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

- (a) the details of wild animal attacks on humans along with the details of loss of lives and crops during the last five years, State-wise;
- (b) the details of compensation awarded to victim's family for the same during the said period, State-wise;
- (c) whether the Government is considering to set up an Expert Committee to study and suggest measures to mitigate the said problem if so, the details thereof along with the steps  taken  by  the  the  Government  to  protect  the  life  and  livelihood  of  the people/farmers living in the forest areas of the country;
- (d) whether the Government is also considering to amend the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 to delegate all the power of the Chief Wild Warden to the Chief Conservators of Forest to enable them to take immediate actions and to allow period culling of wild animals such as wild boar etc.;
- (e) whether there is any plan to declare the wild pig as vermin under Section 62 of the Wildlife Protection Act, if not, the reasons therefor;
- (f) whether there are any plans for implementing measures for the birth control of wild animals to prevent their excessive population increase; and
- (g) whether the plantation of Acasia like foreign origin plants are causing the wildlife encroachments in residential areas and if so, the details thereof and the steps taken to eradicate such species of plants from the reserve forests of the country?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

- (a) and (b) The details of human deaths as reported by States in the last five years due to attacks by elephants and tigers are at Annexure-I and Annexure-II, respectively.

The  details  of  crop  damage  by  wild  animals  and  compensation  awarded  to victim's family is not collated at the Ministry level.

The Ministry provides financial assistance to State/Union Territory Governments under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes of 'Development of Wildlife Habitats' and 'Project Tiger and Elephant' for management of wildlife and its habitats in the country. It includes payment of ex-gratia relief for loss of life and property caused by wild animals. The details of funds released to State/ UT Governments under CSS-'Development of Wildlife Habitats' and 'Project Tiger and Elephant' during last five years are provided as Annexure-III and Annexure IV respectively .

- (c) The  advisories  issued  by  the  Ministry  dated  6.2.2021  and  3.6.2022  prescribe constitution  of  State  Level  Co-ordination  Committees  to  review  and  monitor human wildlife conflict situations and provide guidance/ instructions to different departments for action to be taken in order to minimise/ prevent Human-Wildlife Conflict in those areas. The important steps taken by Government to prevent and manage Human-Wildlife Conflict include the following:
- i. A network of Protected Areas namely viz., National Park, Sanctuaries, Conservation  Reserves  and  Community  Reserves  covering  important wildlife habitats has been created all over the country under the provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 to conserve wild animals and their habitats.
- ii. The  Central  Government  provides  financial  assistance  to  State/Union Territory Governments under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes namely, 'Development of Wildlife Habitats' and 'Project Tiger and Elephant' for management  of  wildlife  and  its  habitat  in  the  country.  The  activities supported  under  the  scheme  include  construction/erection  of  physical barriers such as solar powered electric fence, bio-fencing using shrubs and trees, boundary walls etc. to prevent the entry of wild animals into crop fields.
- iii. Under  the  Centrally  Sponsored  schemes  -  'Development  of  Wildlife Habitats'  and  'Project  Tiger  and  Elephant',  financial  assistance  is  also provided  for  payment  of  ex-gratia  relief  for  loss  of  life  and  property caused by wild animals.
- iv. An advisory on dealing with human-wildlife conflict has been issued by the Ministry in February 2021. The Advisory recommends coordinated interdepartmental action, identification of conflict hot spots, adherence to Standard Operating Procedures, establishment of rapid response teams, formation of State and District level committees to review the quantum of ex-gratia relief and issuing guidance/instructions for expeditious payments etc.
- v. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has also issued Guidelines to States/UTs on 3 rd  June, 2022 on managing Human Wildlife conflict including damage to crops.
- vi. The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 provides regulatory functions for dealing with human wildlife conflict situations.
- (d) and (e) In case of wild animals falling under Schedule-II of the Act, the State Chief Wild Life Warden or the authorized officer is empowered to grant permits for hunting, if such animals have become dangerous to human life or property.

Currently, Section 11 (b) of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 empowers the State Chief Wild Life Warden or an authorized officer to take necessary steps for hunting of wild pigs, if it has become dangerous to human life or property. At present, this Ministry is not considering notifying wild pigs as vermin.

In case of wild animals falling under Schedule I of the Act, the State Chief Wild Life Warden is empowered to grant such a permit, if the animal has become dangerous to human life. Presently, the Ministry is not considering to amend the Act to give powers to Chief Conservators of Forests to order the hunting of wild animals listed in Schedule I of the Act.

- (f) The  Wildlife  Institute  of  India  has  been  assigned  a  study  on  'Population Management of Species involved in Human-Wildlife conflict' to develop a range of  mitigation  strategies  including  the  applicability  of  immuno-contraceptive measures  to  manage  populations  of  Elephants,  Nilgais,  Rhesus  Macaque  and Wild pigs.
- (g) The major reasons causing human-wildlife conflict include:
- i. Degradation and fragmentation of the habitat, depletion of the natural prey base, resource use in the wildlife habitat by human beings for various reasons like grazing, fuel-wood, grass removal and exploitation of wild fruits, etc.
- ii. Increase  in  population  of  wild  animals  due  to  sustained  protection efforts.
- iii. Changing crop patterns,  presence of  stray  dogs  and  cattle  in  forest fringe areas etc.

The Central Government provides financial assistance to State/Union Territory Governments under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes 'Development of Wildlife Habitats' and 'Project Tiger and Elephant' for management of wildlife and its habitat in the country including for removal of invasive alien species.

*****

Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) and (b) of the Lok  Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2179 due for reply on 05.08.2024 regarding 'Steps to Check Wild Animal Attacks'.

## HUMAN CASULTIES DUE TO ELEPHANT ATTACK

| S. No.   | State             | 2019-20   | 2020-21   | 2021-22   |   2022-23 |   2023-24 |
|----------|-------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    | 4         | 6         | NR        |         5 |         6 |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh | 0         | 0         | 2         |         0 |         0 |
| 3        | Assam             | 75        | 91        | 63        |        80 |        74 |
| 4        | Chhattisgarh      | 77        | 42        | 64        |        69 |        51 |
| 5        | Jharkhand         | 84        | 74        | 133       |        96 |        87 |
| 6        | Karnataka         | 30        | 26        | 27        |        29 |        48 |
| 7        | Kerala            | 13        | 27        | 35        |        27 |        22 |
| 8        | Maharashtra       | 1         | NR        | 0         |         2 |         5 |
| 9        | Meghalaya         | 4         | 6         | 3         |         3 |         7 |
| 10       | Nagaland          | 0         | 0         | 2         |         1 |         1 |
| 11       | Odisha            | 117       | 93        | 112       |       148 |       154 |
| 12       | Tamil Nadu        | 58        | 57        | 37        |        43 |        61 |
| 13       | Tripura           | 2         | 1         | 2         |         2 |         1 |
| 14       | Uttar Pradesh     | 6         | 1         | 0         |         4 |         4 |
| 15       | Uttarakhand       | NR        | NR        | NR        |         4 |         8 |
| 16       | West Bengal       | 116       | 47        | 77        |        97 |        99 |
| Total    |                   | 587       | 471       | 557       |       610 |       628 |

Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) and (b) of the Lok  Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2179 due for reply on 05.08.2024 regarding 'Steps to Check Wild Animal Attacks'.

## DETAILS OF HUMAN DEATHS BY TIGER ATTACK

| S. No.   | State             |   2019 |   2020 |   2021 |   2022 | 2023   |
|----------|-------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 | NR     |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 | NR     |
| 3        | Assam             |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 | NR     |
| 4        | Bihar             |      0 |      1 |      4 |      9 | NR     |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh      |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 | 3      |
| 6        | Jharkhand         |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 | NR     |
| 7        | Karnataka         |      4 |      0 |      1 |      1 | 8      |
| 8        | Madhya Pradesh    |      1 |     11 |      2 |      3 | 10     |
| 9        | Maharashtra       |     26 |     25 |     32 |     82 | 35     |
| 10       | Mizoram           |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 | NR     |
| 11       | Orissa            |      0 |      0 |      0 |      0 | NR     |
| 12       | Rajasthan         |      5 |      0 |      0 |      0 | NR     |
| 13       | Tamil Nadu        |      0 |      1 |      3 |      0 | 1      |
| 14       | Telangana         |      0 |      2 |      0 |      0 | NR     |
| 15       | Uttar Pradesh     |      8 |      4 |     11 |     11 | 25     |
| 16       | Uttarakhand       |      2 |      0 |      1 |      3 | NR     |
| 17       | West Bengal       |      3 |      5 |      5 |      1 | NR     |
| TOTAL    | TOTAL             |     49 |     49 |     59 |    110 | 82     |

NR - Not reported.

## Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) and (b) of the Lok  Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2179 due for reply on 05.08.2024 regarding 'Steps to Check Wild Animal Attacks'.

Details of funds released to State/ UT Governments under CSS-'Development of Wildlife Habitats' during last five years.

## (₹. in lakhs)

| S. No.   | Name of States/UTs   |   2019-20 |   2020-21 |   2021-22 |   2022-23 |   2023-24 |
|----------|----------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| 1        | A& N Islands         |   132.64  |    0      |  135.77   |   25.125  |    0      |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh       |     0     |    0      |    0      |    0      |    0      |
| 3        | Arunachal Pradesh    |   512.69  |  312.587  |  419.806  |  276.441  |  672.462  |
| 4        | Assam                |   164.26  |    0      |    0      |  209.146  |  565.108  |
| 5        | Bihar                |   148.142 |  205.164  |  410.86   |    0      |  336.372  |
| 6        | Chandigarh           |     0     |   25.16   |    0      |   21.6241 |   16.498  |
| 7        | Chhattisgarh         |   310.032 |  104.359  |  274.59   |  104.457  |  116.249  |
| 8        | Goa                  |   111.654 |    0      |    0      |    0      |   50.1    |
| 9        | Gujarat              |     0     |  124.585  |    0      |  200.01   |  206.99   |
| 10       | Haryana              |   237.608 |   18.2212 |  127.331  |   30.1575 |  167.85   |
| 11       | Himachal Pradesh     |   375.766 |  187.635  |  197.095  |  114.32   |   94.1533 |
| 12       | Jammu &Kashmir       |     0     |   80.6286 |    0      |    0      |   69.5797 |
| 13       | Jharkhand            |    93.96  |  198.226  |   79.5332 |    0      |   14.9102 |
| 14       | Karnataka            |   739.046 |  586.126  | 1256.59   |  291.711  |  581.523  |
| 15       | Kerala               |   845.026 |  731.284  |  295.774  |  224.474  |  921.036  |
| 16       | Madhya Pradesh       |   629.266 |  801.601  |  389.349  |  265.551  |  471.82   |
| 17       | Maharashtra          |   715.781 |  146.08   |    0      |  350.388  |  554.696  |
| 18       | Manipur              |   396.455 |  241.12   |  142.506  |  180.644  |  231.724  |
| 19       | Meghalaya            |   238.839 |  263.507  |  530.513  |    0      |  243.566  |
| 20       | Mizoram              |   431.79  |  339.609  |  198.968  |  190.198  |  304.207  |
| 21       | Nagaland             |   953.69  |  260.001  |  342.031  |  725.657  | 1306.33   |
| 22       | Odisha               |   701.504 |  697.5    |  726.803  |  967.498  |  612.812  |
| 23       | Rajasthan            |   741.315 |  309.126  | 1007.65   |   86.7889 |    0      |
| 24       | Sikkim               |   557.355 |  349.623  |  182.972  |  239.66   |  187.032  |
| 25       | Tamil Nadu           |   409.505 |  334.035  |  390.757  |  132.952  |  373.89   |
| 26       | Telangana            |     0     |   36.593  |    0      |    0      |    0      |
| 27       | Uttar Pradesh        |   426.251 |  312.924  |  169.063  |  266.747  |  290.644  |
| 28       | Uttarakhand          |  1401.19  |  441.61   |  226.344  |  212.966  |  498.497  |
| 29       | West Bengal          |   891.073 |  710.62   |  757.256  |  201.309  |  385.3    |
| 30       | Puducherry           |     0     |    0      |    0      |    0      |    5.22   |
| 31       | Lakshadweep          |   193.272 |  462.409  |  462.086  |  269.906  |  124.655  |
| 32       | Delhi                |     0     |    0      |    0      |    0      |    0      |
| 33       | Tripura              |    90.317 |  260.679  |    0      |    0      |  186.055  |
| 34       | Ladakh UT            |     0     |  223.173  |   31.95   |   61.1159 |    0.06   |
| Grand    | Total                | 12448.4   | 8764.19   | 8755.6    | 5648.85   | 9589.34   |

## Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) and (b) of the Lok  Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2179 due for reply on 05.08.2024 regarding 'Steps to Check Wild Animal Attacks'.

Details of funds released to State/ UT Governments under CSS-'Project Tiger and Elephant' during last five years. (₹. in lakhs)

| Sl. N   | State             | 2019-20       | 2019-20          | 2020-21       | 2020-21          | 2021-22       | 2021-22          | 2022-23       | 2022-23           | 2023-24                  |
|---------|-------------------|---------------|------------------|---------------|------------------|---------------|------------------|---------------|-------------------|--------------------------|
| o.      | State             | Project Tiger | Project Elephant | Project Tiger | Project Elephant | Project Tiger | Project Elephant | Project Tiger | Project Elepha nt | *Project Tiger& Elephant |
| 1       | Andhra Pradesh    | 114.48        | 127.03           | 266.51        | 77.28            | 292.11        | 20.5565          | 0.00          | 0.00              | 149.421                  |
| 2       | Arunachal Pradesh | 846.31        | 103.2683 1       | 803.76        | 282.256          | 869.08        | 157.7615         | 0.00          | 26.8875           | 1119.9145                |
| 3       | Assam             | 2198.76       | -                | 2513.90       | 35.284           | 1476.75       | 126.716          | 336.22        | 167.4             | 2619.3078 4              |
| 4       | Bihar             | 562.84        | 57.02752         | 628.89        | 39.08            | 552.72        | -                | 0.00          | 0.00              | 308.9825                 |
| 5       | Chhattisgarh      | 358.53        | -                | 471.16        | -                | 355.85        | 24.785           | 82.88         | 0.00              | 292.855                  |
| 6       | Haryana           | 0.00          | 16.80            | 0.00          | 11.04            | 0.00          | 4.2345           | 0.00          | 17.4              | 26.1                     |
| 7       | Himachal Pradesh  | 0.00          | 0.00             | 0.00          | 0.00             | 0.00          | 0.00             | 0.00          | 0.00              | 19.61                    |
| 8       | Jharkhand         | 1432.07       | 161.4443 8       | 128.45        | 111.8652 2       | 195.06        | 86.682           | 17.26         | 78.05             | 405.785                  |
| 9       | Karnataka         | 2252.03       | 412.4823 9       | 2118.01       | 330.4037 6       | 2956.70       | 261.195          | 235.24        | 97.8453           | 2613.0834                |
| 10      | Kerala            | 607.07        | 432.132          | 402.88        | 574.56           | 868.78        | 580.96765        | 0.00          | 270.09            | 996.22425                |
| 11      | Madhya Pradesh    | 3501.91       | 13.695           | 2551.26       | -                | 3523.52       | 12.613           | 1172.51       | 11.388            | 4303.794                 |
| 12      | Maharashtra       | 7220.39       | 44.1944          | 3098.03       | 17.98            | 2991.06       | -                | 0.00          | 28.524            | 2614.4516 7              |
| 13      | Manipur           | 0.00          | 10.944           | 0.00          | -                | 0.00          | 5.40             | 0.00          | 0.00              | 14.121                   |
| 14      | Meghalaya         | 0.00          | 177.8976         | 0.00          | 9.36             | 0.00          | 141.75           | 0.00          | 32.14             | 65.25                    |
| 15      | Mizoram           | 337.70        | -                | 161.53        | -                | 374.13        | -                | 0.00          | 0.00              | 144                      |
| 16      | Nagaland          | 0.00          | 213.9498         | 0.00          | 92.50            | 0.00          | 279.759          | 0.00          | 235.575           | 337.77                   |
| 17      | Odisha            | 1303.32       | 387.036          | 680.07        | 577.99           | 1056.86       | 567.045          | 190.27        | 212.769 5         | 1012.5876 4              |
| 18      | Rajasthan         | 1203.19       | 35.28            | 1008.89       | -                | 841.05        | 15.18            | 0.00          | 6.18609           | 968.3004                 |
| 19      | Tamil Nadu        | 1586.91       | 275.1576         | 1336.14       | -                | 1576.22       | 181.8464         | 0.00          | 85.9405           | 2547.9664                |
| 20      | Telangana         | 359.91        | -                | 351.97        | -                | 543.26        | -                | 0.00          | 0                 | 323.308                  |
| 21      | Tripura           | 0.00          | 45.38            | 0.00          | 24.71            | -             | -                | 0.00          | 7.36516           | 27.0855                  |
| 22      | Uttarakhand       | 1242.49       | 417.312          | 1671.30       | 204.85           | 1463.71       | 244.12375        | 0.00          | 18.7415           | 1495.5241                |
| 23      | Uttar Pradesh     | 2289.18       | 37.74            | 923.29        | -                | 1304.85       | 45.993           | 0.00          | 9.858             | 1031.9767                |
| 24      | West Bengal       | 758.47        | 113.254          | 333.96        | 64.1958          | 708.28        | 87.8717          | 0.00          | 30.05             | 522.58101                |
|         |                   | 28175.5 6     | 3082.025         | 19450.0 0     | 2453.355         | 21949.9 9     | 2844.48          | 2034.38       | 1336.21 1         | 23960                    |