Govt allows killing of wild boar, but with conditions

THE GOAN NETWORK | NOVEMBER 19, 2021, 12:09 AM IST

PANAJI

Marauding wild boars in Goa are finally open game now, with government riders of course. 

In a populist decision ahead of the assembly polls, the Goa government has allowed culling of the shaggy boars, amid repeated complaints by farmers whose farms and crops have been ravaged by the species which are protected under the Schedule III of the Wildlife Protection Act. 

But before you pick up your guns and go trigger-happy, an order issued by the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Santosh Kumar has said that wild pigs (scientific name sus scrofa) can only be culled in cultivable areas, by following procedure laid down by the department. 

And most significantly, the carcass of the beast is designated as government property, once killed. 

"In exercise of the power conferred by sub-section (2) of the section 5 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, I, the Chief Wildlife Warden Goa, with prior approval of the Government of Goa do hereby delegate, the powers and duties under clause (b) of sub section (1) of section 11 of the said Act exclusively in relation to the wild animal, namely wild pig (sus scrofa) as specified at serial number 19 of the Schedule III of the said act, to Dy. Conservator of Forests (North Goa Forest Division) and Dy. Conservator of Forests, (South Goa Forest Division)," an order issued by Santosh Kumar said.

The order issued by the Forest Department shall come into force from the date of its publication in the official gazette.

According to government norms, the process of culling wild boars has to be initiated with a complaint filed by a farmer to the local wildlife warden, following which a range forest officer (RFO) will be designated to carry out a panchnama of the destruction caused by wild boars to the plantation or field.

The permission to kill the errant boars will then be accorded for a specific period, specific to a site and will be non-transferable and only expert shooters with a valid licence to carry a heavy bore gun can be allowed to hunt the boars to ensure a clean kill.

Permission to kill wild boars is only limited to private cultivations and cannot be extended to government property or protected areas, according to the Wildlife Protection Act. 

Once felled, the carcass of the pig would then be designated as government property and cannot be consumed or sold commercially.

Rapid deforestation and urbanization has led to increasing human-wild animal conflict throughout the state.

Recently, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told the state legislative assembly that the Goa government was in the process of planting fruit bearing trees in forest areas and other lands available for plantations to prevent wild animals from entering human habitation.

Some years back peacocks featured on the state agriculture ministry's wish-list of vermin species, along with monkeys and bisons, with farmers claiming the species were damaging crops extensively. While the peacock is the national bird, the bison is the state animal.


Share this