Hunting of certain wild animals to be legalised !!!.. What a shame
The Issue
The environment ministry has decided to issue permission to state governments allowing them to hunt animals within man-animal conflict zones by categorising them as ‘vermin’. To initiate this process, the ministry will first identify the nuisance animal species such as nilgai and wild boar, whose numbers are high and classify them as vermin based on recommendations of the state government. The states can then hunt them freely for a stipulated period.
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has declared this as a rational solution for farmers, who are losing crops to foraging animals. He also explained that this approach is not unusual in order to maintain harmony between humans and animals. There are conditions provided for nuisance animals protected under the various Schedules of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
NGO Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PETA) has made their opposition to this plan fairly clear by stating that this would defeat the purpose of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and that ecological balance cannot be restored through permitted hunting. PETA’s director of veterinary affairs Manilal Valliyate said, “The wild animals you see in your backyard aren’t trespassing – it was their home first, before humans encroached. Humans increasingly move into animals’ habitat and take away their food and other sources.”
Man-animal conflict has been on the rise in areas with dense wildlife including tiger and elephant territories due to rapid and steady ‘development’ that has occurred within the past two decades, which have cut off access to green corridors that join these habitats. These corridors facilitate movement of animals across connected regions thereby managing the populations and keeping them from over saturating an area and maintaining genetic diversity.
Sources say that states such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal are some which want to declare certain animals as vermin.
Source: Hindustan Times
- See more at: http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/conservation/news/9963-hunting-of-certain-wild-animals-to-be-legalised#sthash.wiLZA8yO.dpuf
The Issue
The environment ministry has decided to issue permission to state governments allowing them to hunt animals within man-animal conflict zones by categorising them as ‘vermin’. To initiate this process, the ministry will first identify the nuisance animal species such as nilgai and wild boar, whose numbers are high and classify them as vermin based on recommendations of the state government. The states can then hunt them freely for a stipulated period.
Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has declared this as a rational solution for farmers, who are losing crops to foraging animals. He also explained that this approach is not unusual in order to maintain harmony between humans and animals. There are conditions provided for nuisance animals protected under the various Schedules of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
NGO Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PETA) has made their opposition to this plan fairly clear by stating that this would defeat the purpose of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and that ecological balance cannot be restored through permitted hunting. PETA’s director of veterinary affairs Manilal Valliyate said, “The wild animals you see in your backyard aren’t trespassing – it was their home first, before humans encroached. Humans increasingly move into animals’ habitat and take away their food and other sources.”
Man-animal conflict has been on the rise in areas with dense wildlife including tiger and elephant territories due to rapid and steady ‘development’ that has occurred within the past two decades, which have cut off access to green corridors that join these habitats. These corridors facilitate movement of animals across connected regions thereby managing the populations and keeping them from over saturating an area and maintaining genetic diversity.
Sources say that states such as Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal are some which want to declare certain animals as vermin.
Source: Hindustan Times
- See more at: http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/conservation/news/9963-hunting-of-certain-wild-animals-to-be-legalised#sthash.wiLZA8yO.dpuf
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Petition created on 31 March 2016