Kerala urges the Centre to make changes in the Wildlife Protection Act. Here's the full story

On February 14, the Kerala Legislative Assembly passed a resolution that urges the Centre to make changes in some sections of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The urge to make these amendments is for the purpose of catering to the issue of increasing conflicts between humans and animals in Kerala.

Take a look at the sections of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 that Kerala wishes to amend.

Urge to call wild boar as vermin

The state of Kerala wishes that the Union Government should call wild boar vermin, in accordance with section 62 of the Act. As per section 62 of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, the Union Government is entitled to declare any wild animal listed in Schedule II of the Act as vermin for a time frame in a specific state or area.

When an animal becomes threat to crops or life, it is declared as vermin. Once an animal is declared as vermin, it loses its protection from hunting which was conferred through Schedule ii of the Act. This empowers the citizens and states to hunt the animal. The state of Kerala wants to Union Government to declare the wild boar as vermin, so as to protect the state from the chaos created by the animal to livelihood and life.

ALSO READ: List of all Chief Ministers of Kerala

Section 11

Kerala wishes to get Section 11 of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 to get amended. This Section deals with the hunting of wild animals. The clause (1) (A) of the section says that the Chief Wildlife Warden of a state may permit killing or hunting of such a wild animal that is mentioned in Schedule I and has become dangerous to human life or diseased beyond recovery. The Section provides power to the Chief Wildlife Warden (CWLW) of a state to order hunting of killing of such an animal in case it cannot be relocated post capturing.

What does Kerala want to amend in this section?

Well, the state wishes to transfer this power of the Chief Wildlife Warden of the state to the Chief Conservators of Forests. The state is of the view that such a change will help in making the procedures for managing wild animals that are becoming a threat to the lives of humans, easier. Such a change will make speedy decisions at the local levels possible. At present, the state of Kerala has a total of five CCFs.

ALSO READ: Difference between Wildlife Sanctuary, Biosphere Reserves and National Park

ALSO READ: Centre plans to present the "White Paper". What exactly is the White Paper?