Animal birth control: Focus on elephants, leopards in conflict

Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre’s call for a discussion on wildlife birth control has brought to the fore the questions surrounding animal population control.

A senior official noted that though immunocontraception had been tested and proven as a humane intervention, which is reversible in three years, the Supreme Court’s restraining order had made it difficult to initiate a pilot project.

Immunocontraception involves darting of female elephants with a vaccine that causes their immune system to produce antibodies that prevent fertilisation for three years. The findings of some studies that long-term (beyond three years) and repeated use of the vaccine may lead to permanent loss of fertility will need a robust ethical framework.

Another officer said even after getting clearances at every level, immunocontraception would not be used as a blanket measure.“First, a scientific study will be conducted to identify the target individuals. The most likely candidates are those elephants in Hassan-Chikkamagaluru landscape, which live in coffee plantations and do not go to forests. However, even there, a highly cautious approach will be adopted,” the officer added.

Sources said the matter was discussed at the recent meeting of the standing committee of the National Board for Wildlife. The committee decided to apprise the court about the changes in the elephant landscapes of India.

Sterilisation of leopards

In Karnataka, the wildlife wing holds also discussed the idea of sterilising leopards that are coming into conflict situations.

“Each year, about 150 to 200 leopards are rescued from conflicts. If we do not sterilise, the problem may get out of hand in the coming years,” an official said.

The officer said any steps in that direction require necessary approvals from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, which in turn requires scientific evaluation of sterilisation.