Don’t use wire traps to kill wild boar: Officials

Farmers have been urged by the forest and panchayat raj departments to stop placing electrified wire traps to kill wild boar that enter their fields and damage crops.

The appeal issued on Wednesday comes in the wake of recent orders issued by the forest department authorising gram sarpanches to engage hunters with licensed guns to kill wild boar that attack their fields outside of protected or reserve forest areas.

All the gram sarpanches have been designated as ‘honorary wildlife wardens’ with powers to allow hunting of wild boar, classified as a wild animal in the Wildlife Protection Act. The sarpanches have been told that any hunter they engage will have to agree to do the shooting for free and that there will be no remuneration or payment.

They have been told that their powers as wildlife wardens were limited to decisions on controlling only the wild boar population. The shooters will be responsible for anything untoward during the culling operations.

Detailed guidelines have been discussed by senior forest and panchayat raj officials at a meeting with districtlevel officials from the two departments, during which detailed operational guidelines for the wild boar killing were discussed.

Sarpanches were told to use the Rythu Vedika buildings for creating awareness among farmers on the new wild boar control orders. Principal chief conservator of forests R. Shobha sent detailed instructions on these operations to all district collectors, district panchayat raj, police as well as forest officials.

● DETAILED GUIDELINES have been discussed by senior forest and panchayat raj officials at a meeting with districtlevel officials from the two departments.