PANAJI
The State Wildlife Board which met on Wednesday resolved to recommend to the Centre to declare wild boar as vermin in certain forested areas of the State, Forest Minister Rajendra Arlekar who emerged from the meeting said.
The decision was taken following representations from several quarters to declare several species of animals such as wild boar, monkeys, deer, gaur, parakeets, peafowls etc.
However the Board rejected demands that other species of animals did not find favour with the board.
“The notification declaring them as vermin will be issued only in five talukas -- Pernem, Bicholim, Sattari, Sanguem and Canacona and only in certain villages of these talukas and restricted to the cropping season,” Arlekar said.
Under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 the central government is empowered to, through a notification, declare any wild animal other than those specified in Schedule I and Part II of Schedule II to be vermin for a fixed period.
The wild boar, bonnet macaque and common langur are listed in scheduled II and II (Part I) and can be declared as vermin.
However, the gaur and the peacock, besides being the state animal and the national animal bird respectively are also classified under Schedule I of the WPA and cannot be declared as vermin.
In the year 2014-15 the Goa Government’s Agriculture Department had processed claims of crop damage to the tune of ` 4.6 lakh with the bulk of the claims coming from the Sattari, Sanguem and Pernem talukas.
The previous year claims to the tune of ` 9.20 lakh were made mainly from the same three talukas while in the year 2012-13 claims to the tune of ` 1.81 lakh were made.
In the same period the Forest Department has compensated families to the tune of ` 4.61-lakh for either death or injury to cattle or death an injury to a human.
The Forest department has also adopted other measures to prevent man animal
conflict including rubble
barriers, cattle proof trenches,
solar fencing and even
translocating problematic animals away from human habitation.
In May this year, Agriculture Minister Ramesh Tawadkar had said that along with the wild boar, the national bird peacock, and the state animal the Great Indian bison, should also be declared as vermin, along with specific species of monkeys, because of the damage they cause to agricultural and horticultural crops.
After public uproar following Tawadkar’s statement, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar had gone on record to say that the peacock and bison would not be declared as vermin, but also added that other species which damage crops could be branded as vermin, after due processes by the state Forest Ministry.
