Lok Sabha Question No. 1412 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-05-03
Subject: Attacks by Wild Animals
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: MAJ. GEN. (RETD) BHUWAN CHANDRA KHANDURI AVSM

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1412

TO BE ANSWERED ON  03.05.2016

## Attacks by Wild Animals

## 1412.  MAJ GEN BC KHANDURI AVSM (Retd):

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

- (a) whether several cases of attack on humans by wild animals have been reported in the country including Uttarakhand;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  of  such  cases  during  each  of  the  last  three  years  and  the  current  year, State-wise;
- (c) whether the Government has conducted any study regarding attack of Tiger/Leopard on humans in Uttarakhand;
- (d) if so, the details thereof and the recommendations made in the study report on ways and means to minimize the attack on Humans by Tiger/Leopard;
- (e) whether  the  Union  Government  has  asked  the  State  Government  of  Uttarakhand  to consider the report and take action to minimize attack on humans by wild animals; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

- (a)&(b) Reports about incidents of attack on human by wild animals in various parts of the country including Uttarakhand are received in the Ministry from time to  time.  The  State-wise  and  year-wise  details  of  such  incidents  are  not collated  in  the  Ministry.  However,  details  of  attack  on  human  by  tiger  and elephant, as available with the Ministry, are given in the Annexure.
- (c)&(d) Wildlife  Institute  of  India,  Dehradun  has  conducted  a  study  on  status  and ecology  on  leopard  in  Pauri  Garhwal  from  1999  to  2007  which  included objectives  of  suggesting  mitigatory  measures  to  minimize  leopard-human conflict.  Following  recommendations  were  made  in  the  report  to  minimize leopard-human conflict:
- i. Restoration  of  wild  prey  species,  controlling  illegal  poaching  and public awareness.
- ii. Scrub cover around isolated houses should be cleared.
- iii. Women and children below fifteen years age should be told to move in groups.
- iv. Water should be fetched before 4.00 PM in the evening.
- v. Toilets should be provided atleast for villages for high conflict zone.
- vi. Electrical lighting should be provided around houses.
- vii. Public awareness programme should be carried out on all aspects of the conflict.
- viii. Compensation  for  livestock  lost  to  leopards  should  be  given. Compensation for injured should be given immediately.
- (e)&(f) Wildlife  Institute  of  India,  Dehradun  has  provided  the  report  to  the  Forest Department  of  Uttarakhand.  As  informed  by  the  State  Government  of Uttarakhand,  following action has been taken:
- i. Regular patrolling is being done to control poaching.
- ii. For  awareness  generation  pamphlets  and  posters  in  Hindi  were distributed in affected area.
- iii. Regular advisory are being sent to field officers to minimize leopardhuman conflict.
- iv. Compensation  for  livestock  is  being  given  and  new  rules  regarding compensation for man-animals conflict have been brought under implementation since December 2012.  Immediate part payment in case  of  human  death/injury  has  also  been  included  in  the  new rules.  The  new  rules  also  prescribe  for  a  corpus  at  each  forest division for speedy disposal of such cases.

Besides  Ministry  has  issued  guidelines  in  2011  to  the  States  including Uttarakhand for human-leopard conflict management. Further an advisory for priority  actions  for  management  of  human-wildlife  conflict  has  also  been circulated to all States including Uttarakhand in 2015.

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a)AND (b) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1412 REGARDING 'ATTACKS BY WILD ANIMALS' BY MAJ GEN BC KHANDURI AVSM (Retd) DUE FOR REPLY ON 3.5.2016. Details of attack on human by tiger as reported by states.

| S.No   | State             |   2012-13 |   2013-14 |   2014-15 |   2015-16 ( as on 27.4.2016) |
|--------|-------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|------------------------------|
| 1      | Andhra Pradesh    |         0 |         0 |         0 |                            0 |
| 2      | Arunachal Pradesh |         0 |         0 |         0 |                            0 |
| 3      | Assam             |         0 |         0 |         0 |                            0 |
| 4      | Bihar             |         0 |         1 |         0 |                            0 |
| 5      | Chhattisgarh      |         0 |         0 |         0 |                            0 |
| 6      | Jharkhand         |         0 |         0 |         0 |                            0 |
| 7      | Karnataka         |         2 |         5 |         3 |                            2 |
| 8      | Kerala            |         0 |         0 |         1 |                            1 |
| 9      | Madhya Pradesh    |         2 |         3 |         5 |                            1 |
| 10     | Maharashtra       |         7 |         3 |         8 |                            0 |
| 11     | Mizoram           |         0 |         0 |         0 |                            0 |
| 12     | Odisha            |         0 |         0 |         0 |                            0 |
| 13     | Rajasthan         |         0 |         0 |         0 |                            1 |
| 14     | Tamil Nadu        |         0 |         3 |         1 |                            1 |
| 15     | Telangana         |         0 |         0 |         0 |                            0 |
| 16     | Uttar Pradesh     |         4 |         8 |         0 |                            2 |
| 17     | Uttarakhand       |         0 |         4 |         0 |                            1 |
| 18     | West Bengal       |         6 |         6 |        10 |                            0 |
|        | TOTAL             |        21 |        33 |        28 |                            9 |

## Details of attack on human by elephant

| S.No   | State             |   2012-13 | 2013-14                  | 2014-15                  |
|--------|-------------------|-----------|--------------------------|--------------------------|
| 1      | Andhra Pradesh    |         1 | 2                        | 2                        |
| 2      | Arunachal Pradesh |         0 | 7                        | Information not received |
| 3      | Assam             |        79 | 87                       | 54                       |
| 4      | Chhattisgarh      |        22 | 23                       | 32                       |
| 5      | Jharkhand         |        60 | 56                       | 53                       |
| 6      | Karnataka         |        37 | 33                       | 38                       |
| 7      | Kerala            |        13 | 7                        | 20                       |
| 8      | Maharashtra       |         0 | 0                        | 3                        |
| 9      | Meghalaya         |         1 | 10                       | 3                        |
| 10     | Nagaland          |         0 | 0                        | 1                        |
| 11     | Odisha            |        83 | 67                       | 64                       |
| 12     | Tamil Nadu        |        50 | 52                       | 31                       |
| 13     | Tripura           |         0 | 0                        | 1                        |
| 14     | Uttarakhand       |         7 | Information not received | Information not received |
| 15     | West Bengal       |        69 | 69                       | 89                       |
|        | TOTAL             |       422 | 413                      | 391                      |