Guest guest Posted August 20, 2004 Report Share Posted August 20, 2004 Punjab may allow hunting of blue bull, wild boar Claims their population needs to be culled Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 19 The Punjab Wildlife Department is in the process of finalising a proposal to permit hunting of blue bulls and wild boars in the state. It claims the population of the two animals is in excess of the required number and therefore needs to be culled in the interest of the farming community. The move is however not backed by a scientific survey as to the number of these animals. In might thus be unable to scientifically determine the numbers that need to be culled. “It is a smokescreen for legalizing hunting in a state where a large number of animal species are already endangered,” says Dr Sandeep Jain, a wildlife conservationist and head, People for Animals, Ludhiana. According to the plan for proposed culling, Punjab is likely to authorise SDMs to issue permits to hunters identified by panchayats of villages where the crop is being affected. The Chief Wildlife Warden, Punjab, when contacted, said, “We are still considering the proposal of issuing shooting permits. We may also provide compensation to the farmers. Moreover, Punjab will not be the first state to allow culling. UP, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have standing orders on shooting of blue bulls. We will determine the exact number that needs to be killed. Recently, we had asked our filed staff to conduct a census. We have found that the blue bulls are in excess in Mansa, Muktsar, Patiala, Sangrur, Bathinda districts.” As per the official estimates, there are about 7,000 blue bulls in Punjab. Their number needs to be culled in the interest of economic activity. However, conservationists feel that this figure is inflated. Many Wildlife experts favour compensation schemes for farmers, rather than culling by shooting. They feel that in the absence of a proper census, it would be difficult to determine the number of animals to be killed. Also there are fears that if shooting permits are issued to individuals, it would be difficult to ascertain that the same is used to kill the animal for which it has been issued. Says Lt-Gen Baljit Singh, who has been following this issue for long now, “When there is no census how will they determine how many need to be killed ? Also, how will they maintain the required male-female ratio ? Issuing permits to all and sundry would open the floodgates for hunting.” The Chief Wildlife Warden, however, allays these fears, saying that the laws would be very strict. “The killed animal will be handed over to the Wildlife Department. Our staff will check that rules are not flouted.” Sources in the Wildlife Department meanwhile say the Department lacks the infrastructure required to ensure such things. It also does not have enough vehicles. Hunting was banned by an Act of Parliament in 1991. Only certain animals could be hunted after a provincial government followed some procedures to allow the same once they become excess in number and caused damage to crops. Later, some states allowed shooting of animals to save farmlands. Punjab is now framing laws to hunt blue bulls and wild boars, but whether they are followed is difficult to say. As a conservationist puts it, “Once people have the permit, they can move into the forest and hunt. Let us not forget our forests have several endangered species like barking deer, sambhar, hog deer and black buck. Also, the blue bull is native to India. I don’t think killing of blue bulls is needed. There are 12,000 villages in Punjab and I am sure the number of animals does not exceed that number, which means there is basically one animal per village.” www.tribuneindia/punjab/20.08.2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.