Bhubaneswar: Member of Parliament (MP) Anubhav Mohanty has moved to the Supreme Court and has sought the apex court’s intervention against the indiscriminate and brutal killing of wild animals in India.
In his petition, the BJD MP from Kendrapada advocates that many State Governments for example in Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala have financially incentivised the killing of wild animals such as Nilgai, Rhesus Macaque and Wild Boar respectively. Unfortunately, a popular way of getting rewarded by the State Governments is by planting bombs and poisons in the forests, he states.
Mohanty’s petition to SC brings to attention recent report of the death of several animals and a child after use of heinous practices such snares, wire traps, explosives, bomb baits, poison baits etc were reported and documented to destroy wild animals.
He reiterates the protection rendered to animals under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 even though they may be declared as vermin under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, still renders true. The petition seeks for proactive, constructive and a scientific way forward to mitigate human-wildlife conflict instead of encouraging citizens of the country to kills such wild animals.
The MP said, “Currently there are no proper guidelines in place for the purpose of dealing with man-animal conflict. This has led to the emergence of haphazard, unscientific and excessive policies being exercised by Central and State Governments. This encourages poachers and public to hunt animals. Man-animal conflict is a serious issue and we must look at scientific methods such as immunocontraception, community sensitization, creation of rapid response teams for coordinating and managing conflict to ensure our animals are not hunted.”
He added; “Not only do animals and children suffer because of these violent actions, but our farmers also incur heavy losses due to the inaction of governments. By expediting financial compensation for crop damage, we must support our food givers. With the current trends, neither will our animals survive nor will our farmers. We must think for the good of both”.
Due to such indiscriminate hunting non-target animals such as elephants, leopards, tigers, jackals and even cows fall prey to such unwarranted methods of elimination, dying painful and agonizing deaths, Mohanty said.
