Wild boar attacks on humans, crops on rise

KOZHIKODE: The wild boars are posing a serious threat to humans and crops in Wayanad. Recently, more than six persons were injured and one person was killed in wild boar attacks, according to the forest department figures.

In villages adjacent to jungle zones, farmers have stopped cultivating tapioca, yam and  banana  which are targeted by the  wild boar herds. A.K. Prabha, a farmer,  told DC that it was easy to identify elephant herds and scare them away. “The problem with wild boar herd is that it would be much late when we realize the presence of these herds in the crop,” he added.

Forest officials accept that there should be some mechanism to prevent wild boars from entering human habitats and damaging crops. “There is a steady increase in the wild boar population”, said Wayanad wildlife warden P. Dhanesh Kumar.

Though the UDF government had brought in legislation to allow farmers to kill wild boars, there were many clauses in the legislation that made it ineffective.
Sulthan Bathery MLA I.C. Balakrishnan told DC that the law insists that the farmer should ensure before killing it that the animal is not carrying. How could a farmer do this? That too during night hours when these animals roam in the fields, he asked.

When the issue was raised in the legislature, Forest Minister K. Raju  assured that the law would be redrafted in a pro-farmer manner omitting the unpractical clauses.  At present farmers have  to seek permission from the forest department to shoot a wild boar,  which is not practical. “He has to refer its age, gender and also follow many complex pre-firing and post-firing formalities which made it tough for the farmers,” he added.