Culling animals, an ill-advised solution

Recently, Union Minister Maneka Gandhi strongly opposed the indiscriminate extermination of wild animals which are in conflict with humans. Some wildlife organisations, too, challenged the permissions given to states to shoot the animals they consider “vermin” or pests.

Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar claims that the consent was granted after requests from the states and was based on existing laws. He maintains that this is a scientific management in a specific area for a limited time.

It is learnt that about 200 nilgais and a few other animals have been shot by hired shooters in Bihar’s Mokama area and other parts of the country over three days, even as the wildlife departments of states are saying they do not wish to kill animals. Meanwhile, some state governments are also changing the name of nilgai to rojada, ensuring that the word ‘gai’ (cow) will not lead to problems later.

Even though our forest area is dwindling at an alarming rate, for the last couple of years there is a fake impression being created that wild animal population is escalating and they should be either exterminated or sold to other countries. This conspiracy will help vested interests to mess with our remaining forests for their clandestine agenda.

There are about 700 protected forests in India along with many reserve forests and gomalas that are the main habitat of wild animals. Unfortunately, these animals keep straying from their highly protected enclosures towards agricultural lands because of the lure of the farmer’s crops.

For a human dominated landscape, they may be considered vermin, but in a forest, they encompass a highly useful and essential part of the ecosystem, preserving the crucial and delicate balance.

Culling may adversely impact the ecology of the country. We may end up killing species that are not allowed under the law as well as more number than allowed of the permitted species. If people take to trapping, then the probability of collateral damage to other species is likely to soar. Traps, poison or bombs set up to kill ‘vermin’ species may end up taking a toll on other, protected wildlife.

The pack behaviour in herd animals can also result in unpredictable situations. In an unexpected event of a loss of pack members, a herd get disoriented and confused and behaves in erratic and aberrant ways. This will enhance the chances of human-wildlife conflict. Animals, too, behave like humans when a family member is shot.

Many questions are left unanswered. Thus, the present decision is purely political and not scientific or technically sound. Blanket orders to cull crop-raiding animals are not based on structured information and there are no systems in place to monitor them. Resolving man-animal conflict is a complex issue which warrants greater attention and time.

Assess all factors
Factors like ecology of the species in conflict, changing land-use (including the kind of crops to be cultivated in the periphery of protected forests), variable carnivore populations, effectiveness of the compensation schemes and changes in status of village gomalas etc have to be assessed. Some of these, including alternative method of crop-protection, have been put forth by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) itself in its review.

A better understanding of the subject is essential. Hasty remedies like culling can merely aggravate human-animal conflict. Everything is interconnected. Wild ungulates make up a significant proportion of the prey base of apex predators like the tigers and the leopards.
The immediate impact of mass culling will unquestionably be felt by some lesser
carnivores that are highly dependent on these prey species. They may slowly start preying on domestic livestock, thereby taking the conflict to the next level.

For conflict mitigation, specific action measures are to be arrived at by long-standing, sustainable planning in collaboration with the state forest departments, conservationists, and wildlife NGOs. The decision to cull is not in line with the Indian ethos of living in consonance with nature. Our scriptures teach that divinity prevails in all elements, including plants and animals.

On the one hand, the government speaks of saving domestic cows, but on the other the MOEFCC is resorting to the faulty ‘kill and solve’ policy. The ministry’s ill-informed move can devastate the natural heritage of our biodiversity.

(The writer is Professor, Department of  Zoology, Christ University, Bengaluru)