Kerala first state to amend central wildlife law: CM Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that Kerala has become the first state to pass a Bill amending the Central Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

The Kerala Assembly on Wednesday passed the Bill with the objective of reducing the growing incidence of human-animal conflict in the state.

The CM, in a post on social media platform 'X' on Thursday, said that the passing of the Kerala Wildlife Protection Amendment Bill marks a major step towards addressing rising human-animal conflicts and ensuring justice for forest-edge communities.

"These reforms reaffirm Kerala’s commitment to safeguarding both human life and wildlife, fostering harmony between people and nature," he said in the post.

The Bill will be sent to the Raj Bhavan, which will refer it to the President as it concerns a Central law, according to official sources.

The Bill was introduced in the Assembly last month. State Forest Minister A K Saseendran had a day ago informed the Assembly that the government had been compelled to come up with its own amendment to the Central Act, as repeated requests to the Centre for timely changes had met with no success.

He had said that human-animal conflict is an issue directly affecting the lives of one-third of the state's population.

The minister had also said that the main objectives of the amendment bill are to get the authority to declare wildlife as vermin and to ensure freedom for the state government to intervene during necessary situations.