Lok Sabha Question No. 2261 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-09
Subject: Wild Animal Attacks
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Shri Utkarsh Verma Madhur

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO 2261 TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.12.2024

## Wild Animal Attacks

## 2261. SHRI UTKARSH VERMA MADHUR:

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

- (a) the  number  of  people  who  have  lost  their  lives  in  wild  animal  attacks  in  Tiger Reserve areas in the country, State-wise;
- (b) the  details  of  number  of  people  killed  in  wild  animal  attacks  in  the  district  of Lakhimpur, Pilibhit and Bahraich situated in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve;
- (c) the details of compensation provided in case of persons killed in wild animal attacks along with the date by which it is applicable;
- (d) whether there is any plan to increase the compensation amount, if not, the reasons therefor;
- (e) the steps taken to protect the lives of people from the wild animal attacks living in the vicinity of Tiger Reserve areas; and
- (f) the  reason  behind  the  frequency  of  such  incidents  even  after  many  schemes formulated by Forest Department?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

- (a) As reported by States, the number of human deaths due to tiger attacks is at Annexure-I.
- (b), (c) & (d) In the financial year 2024-25, 16 people have lost their lives in the Dudhwa Tiger  Reserve  while  10  people  have  lost  their  lives  at  the  Pilibhit  Tiger Reserve  till  date.    Human-wildlife  conflict  has  been  notified  as  a  State disaster  in  the  State  of  Uttar  Pradesh,  wherein  a  sum  of  Rs.  5  lakhs  is provided in cases of death of the victim.

Under  the  Project  Tiger  component  of  the  ongoing  Centrally  Sponsored Scheme of the Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats, the rate of exgratia was  increased  from  Rs.  5  lakhs  to  Rs.  10  lakhs  in  December  2023, which also has the following components:

| S. No.   | Nature of damage caused wild animals   | Amount of ex-gratia relief                     |
|----------|----------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
| i.       | Permanent incapacitation               | Rs.10.00 lakhs                                 |
| ii.      | Grievous injury                        | Rs.2.00 lakhs                                  |
| iii.     | Minor injury                           | Cost of treatment up to Rs.25,000/- per person |
| iv.      | Loss of property/crops                 | As per Sate/UT Government norms                |

- (e) In so far as tigers are concerned, the Government of India, through the National Tiger Conservation Authority, has advocated a three pronged strategy to manage human-wildlife negative interactions as follows:-
- (i) Material  and  logistical  support: Funding  support  through  the  ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger, is provided to tiger reserves for acquiring capacity in terms of infrastructure and material, to deal with tigers dispersing out of source areas.  These are solicited by tiger reserves through an Annual Plan of Operation (APO) every year which stems out from  an  overarching  Tiger  Conservation  Plan  (TCP),  mandated  under Section 38 V of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Inter alia, activities such  as  payment  of  ex-gratia  and  compensation,  periodic  awareness campaigns  to  sensitize,  guide  and  advise  the  general  populace  on  mananimal  conflict,  dissemination  of  information  through  various  forms  of media,  procurement  of  immobilization  equipment,  drugs,  training  and capacity building of forest staff to deal with conflict events are generally solicited.
- (ii) Restricting  habitat  interventions :  Based  on  the  carrying  capacity  of tigers  in  a  tiger  reserve,  habitat  interventions  are  restricted  through  an overarching TCP.  In case tiger numbers are at carrying capacity levels, it is  advised  that  habitat  interventions  should  be  limited  so  that  there  is  no excessive spill over of wildlife  including tigers thereby minimizing mananimal  conflict.   Further,  in  buffer  areas  around  tiger  reserves,  habitat interventions  are  restricted  such  that  they  are  sub-optimal  vis-à-vis  the core/critical  tiger  habitat  areas,  judicious  enough  to  facilitate  dispersal  to other rich habitat areas only.
- (iii) Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs): The National Tiger Conservation  Authority  has  issued  following  three  SOPs  to  deal  with human-animal conflict, which are available in public domain:

i. To deal with emergency arising due to straying of tigers in human dominated landscapes

- ii. To deal with tiger depredation on livestock

iii.  For  active  management  towards  rehabilitation  of  tigers  from source areas at the landscape level.

The three SOPs inter alia include the issue of managing dispersing tigers, managing  livestock  kills  so  as  to  reduce  conflict  as  well  as  relocating  tigers from source areas to areas where density of tiger is low, so that conflict in rich source areas does not occur.

Also  as  per  Tiger  Conservation Plans  need  based  and  site-specific management interventions are undertaken by the tiger reserves for improving the  quality  of  wildlife  habitat  and  funding  support  for  these  activities  is provided under the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme  of Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats.

- (f) As reported by the States, due to initiatives of the Government, the frequency of human-wildlife  negative  interactions  is  under  control  and  the  marginal  rise  in some areas is on account of chance encounters with dispersing wildlife and due to right burdened forests.

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## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2261 ON WILD ANIMAL ATTACKS DUE FOR REPLY ON 09.12.2024

## DETAILS OF HUMAN DEATHS BY TIGER ATTACK AS REPORTED BY STATES

| S. No.   | State             |   2022 | 2023   | 2024 (upto 30-06-2024)   |
|----------|-------------------|--------|--------|--------------------------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    |      0 | -      | 0                        |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh |      0 | 0      | 0                        |
| 3        | Assam             |      0 | -      | 0                        |
| 4        | Bihar             |      9 | -      | 1                        |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh      |      0 | 3      | 0                        |
| 6        | Jharkhand         |      0 | -      | 0                        |
| 7        | Karnataka         |      1 | 8      | 1                        |
| 8        | Kerala            |      0 | 0      | 0                        |
| 9        | Madhya Pradesh    |      3 | 10     | 6                        |
| 10       | Maharashtra       |     82 | 35     | 20                       |
| 11       | Mizoram           |      0 | 0      | -                        |
| 12       | Orissa            |      0 | 0      | 0                        |
| 13       | Rajasthan         |      0 | -      | 0                        |
| 14       | Tamil Nadu        |      0 | 1      | 0                        |
| 15       | Telangana         |      0 | -      | 0                        |
| 16       | Uttar Pradesh     |     11 | 25     | 10                       |
| 17       | Uttarakhand       |      3 | -      | 6                        |
| 18       | West Bengal       |      1 | -      | -                        |
|          | TOTAL             |    110 | 82     | 44                       |

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