Thiruvananthapuram: Forest Minister AK Saseendran on Friday claimed that the wild animal attacks reported in Kerala were due to the increase in the number of wild animals beyond the capacity of the forest. He said that the Kerala government had taken several steps to prevent man-animal conflict, but none of them gave the desired result.
"The attacks of wild animals on human beings have been on the rise. The cases are increasing steadily. So, we will approach the Supreme Court seeking wild animals' birth control," said Saseendran. At present, there is a Supreme Court stay on any such birth control activities among wild animals. He said the government would provide solatium to the family of the farmer, who was killed in a tiger attack at Wayanad. He said the wild animal population has outgrown the capacity of the forests and the wild could no longer contain the increased wild animal population.
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"We will conduct a study to map the extent of forests in the state and efforts would also be taken to shift wild animals from one location to another as per the study," the minister said. He said the government is also actively considering the possibility of giving a government job to a family member of the farmer, who was killed in a tiger attack.
More CCTV cameras would be installed in the area to trap the tiger that killed the farmer. The minister said that any efforts to control the wild animals' attack on human inhabitants could be done with the cooperation of neighbouring states. He said the Karnataka forest department has been cooperating with Kerala.
