Tamil Nadu: Cattle conservators face restriction

Chennai: The real conservators of the Bargur cattle breed, the Lingayats, are facing restrictions from the state forest department, which is putting pressure on them to give up rearing of the cattle breed.

Lingayats are a closely-knit community, who have migrated from Karnataka and has been in the Bargur cattle rearing profession since a century. The forest department, which should grant the grazing rights to the community, under the norms of Protection of Bio-diversity act, 2002, is defying it by tightening the process.

Srinivas Ratnaswami, a senior advocate of Madras High Court, who is also into the conservation of native breeds of dogs and cattle said the state government should facilitate the in-situ conservation of the cattle breed. "How can the breed sustain if the livestock keepers (Lingayats) are not permitted to access the hilly terrains for grazing the animal?" he questioned.

Officials from the forest department said that rules were made stringent, in order to prevent man-animal conflict. "The forests of Krishnagiri and Erode have a good number of leopard population, which is a threat to the community people," said an official.

However, conversationalists question the excuse, saying, "The livestock keeper sleeps in the middle of the cattle herd, which would not get scattered even if a ferocious animal attacks them. As a herd, they attack predators."

Lingayats lead a tribe-like lifestyle and keep themselves secluded from normal families. They get down from the hilly terrain only once in three months, to sell the old animal or male cattle in the village markets. During their secluded period in the forest, they survive with the milk and dishes made out of curd, along with the grains.