Question : Wild Animal attacks on Humans

(a) whether the Government has taken serious note of wild animals attack on both humans and standing crops, causing damage to precious lives;
(b) if so, the details of the number of people killed by various wild animals including elephants and monetary loss incurred to the affected people and families and also to the Government;
(c) whether wild animals attacks cause bad impact on the Government’s proposal to double the income of farmers by 2022 as farming and farmers are severely affected by the wild animals attacks and if so, the details thereof;
(d) whether the Government is aware that there is an urgent need to chalk out a plan for construction of protecting walls in the villages adjacent to the forest areas; and
(e) if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

(a)&(b) Yes, Sir. The Government is aware of wild animals attack on both humans and standing crops, causing damage to precious lives. The details of number of people killed by wild animals are not compiled by the Ministry. However, as per the information available with the Ministry 275 human were killed by elephants during the year 2017-18 and 7 by tigers during the year 2018.
The management of human-animal conflict is handled by State/UT Governments. The details of monetary loss incurred to the affected people and families are not collated by the Ministry.

(c) (d)&(e) Crop raiding by wild animals have an impact on income of farmers. However, the Government has taken several steps to prevent the crops damage by wild animals. The Government under Centrally Sponsored Schemes ‘Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats’ (IDWH) is providing funds to the state governments for mitigating the impact of the human wildlife conflict including crop raiding by wild animals which can be used by the state governments to take up measures for protecting crops from wild animals which include erecting of physical barriers, such as barbed wire fence, solar powered electric fence, bio-fencing using cactus, boundary wall etc.

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