Don’t kill nilgai, fence fields: CM Vijay Rupani tells forest deptartment

Summary: The declaration would have allowed hunting of nilgai, which is a scheduled animal. AHMEDABAD: While the Centre is exploring ways to permit hunting and culling of overbred species, on Tuesday, the state board of wildlife, chaired by chief minister Vijay Rupani , rejected a proposal by the forest department to declare nilgai as vermin. It was decided that an action plan should be drawn up for managing wildlife in the state. There are nearly two lakh nilgais in the state proving a menace to standing crops. “During the meeting on Tuesday, when the proposal to declare nilgai as vermin came up, the chief minister, Vijay Rupani, said that he hailed from the Jain community, which believes in ‘jivdaya’ or non-violence towards animals,” said a member of the state board of wildlife.

While the Centre is exploring ways to permit hunting and culling of overbred species, on Tuesday, the state board of wildlife, chaired by chief minister Vijay Rupani , rejected a proposal by the forest department to declare nilgai as vermin. The declaration would have allowed hunting of nilgai, which is a scheduled animal. There are nearly two lakh nilgais in the state proving a menace to standing crops.”During the meeting on Tuesday, when the proposal to declare nilgai as vermin came up, the chief minister, Vijay Rupani, said that he hailed from the Jain community, which believes in ‘jivdaya’ or non-violence towards animals,” said a member of the state board of wildlife.”The CM asked the forest department to promote subsidized fencing of farms, rather than allow unrestricted hunting of nilgai,” he added.Recently the Union environment ministry had sought report from the states about overbred animals causing damage to crops, seeking possibilities to declare them as vermin until their populations cease to pose a threat to humans and agriculture.Forest officials said that they had moved the proposal based on recommendations of several panchayats when Anandiben Patel was chief minister.

She had kept the proposal in abeyance, while Rupani rejected the proposal outright on Tuesday.Priyavrat Gadhvi, a board member, said, “The issue of man-animal conflict was raised at the meeting and the board took serious note of it. It was decided that an action plan should be drawn up for managing wildlife in the state.””The board also decided that a two-day seminar with wildlife experts should be held, especially focusing on man-animal conflict, before setting out to draft the action plan,” Gadhvi added.Gadhvi said during the discussion, it was suggested that not just killing of animals or injuries to humans , but the destruction of crop fields and other areas should also be taken up during the proposed conflict management study.The members of the state board of wildlife also suggested that the government should ensure adequate field staff as staff shortage seriously hampers conservation efforts.. .

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/dont-kill-nilgai-fence-fields-cm-tells-forest-dept/articleshow/58369027.cms