Dehradun (Uttarakhand): Farmers are not able to get respite from wild animals though the Uttarakhand government was taking measures to curb the menace. Although many wild animals are damaging the farmers' crops in the region, the biggest problem for the farmers in the mountain areas are monkeys and wild boars.
Though the Uttarakhand Forest Department has launched a drive to curb the monkeys' menace, however, the government seems helpless against the wild boars. In the past, in view of the terror of wild boars, permission to kill them was also taken from the Union Ministry of Forests and Environment, but this experiment of the State on the hills was not successful. So, now the Forest Department is planning to launch 'Operation Red Fox' as part of the new plan.
Decision taken to kill wild boars: Farmers are incurring huge losses due to monkeys and wild boars in Uttarakhand. The State government has worked to enforce the ban on monkeys and this is the reason that during the 2015 census of monkeys, their number was close to 1 lakh 49,000. At the same time, during the census of monkeys in 2021, their number decreased by about 39,000 and now their number is 1.10 lakhs. A decision was taken to allow the killing of wild boars to control their number, but this did not help much.
'Operation Red Fox'
The plan is to increase the number of extinct red foxes in the state under 'Operation Red Fox'. Foxes prey on the young wild boars. The red fox is very important to control the number of wild boars. A sudden increase in the number of wild boars in the region is also claimed to be due to the extinction of the red fox.
Red Fox is important to control the number of wild boars: Uttarakhand Minister for Forest Subodh Uniyal says that the Forest Department is going to start 'Operation Red Fox' to relieve farmers of wild boars. Under this programme, work will be done to increase the number of endangered foxes so that the number of wild boars can be controlled. Not only in Uttarakhand, but also in Himachal and all the Himalayan states, the menace of wild boars is visible to the farmers. The red fox found in the Himalayan region has been considered very important for controlling the wild boars' population, but with time the red fox is becoming extinct and its presence is very less during the installation of camera traps in many places.
What is the status of Red Foxes?
In the 2005 census, the number of wild boars was found to be 32,613. In 2008, their number increased to 34,914. After that, there was no enumeration, but now the number of wild boars is more than 50,000. Every year around 200 to 300 square kilometres of crops are destroyed by wild boars. About one to one and a half crore worth of crops are lost due to wild boars. The red fox, which was previously found in good numbers in the mountains, is now extinct. There is a huge demand for red fox fur and it is also on the verge of extinction due to poaching. The red fox is found in Uttarakhand, Himachal, Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan, Nepal and Afghanistan
People are fed up with wild animals: Under Operation Red Fox, it is believed that the forest department can set up breeding centres for red foxes at various places. These centres may also try to increase the number of foxes and decide on a programme to protect them. Currently, the entire plan has been deliberated in the recent meeting of the State Wildlife Board and a framework is being prepared for it.
The Migration Commission in Uttarakhand, in its report on the reasons behind the migration from across the state, had made it clear that 5.61% of the total migration in the state so far is due to wild animals. There are three species of red fox. These include Tibetan Red Fox, Desert Fox and Kashmiri Red Fox.
The time limit to kill wild boars to be extended: The Uttarakhand Forest Department has also spoken to the officials of the Wildlife Institute of India about this. During this conversation with WII officers, the framework for proceeding with Operation Red Fox and the studies so far were also discussed. Overall, the Uttarakhand Forest Department in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India is going to take this mission forward. On the other hand, there is also a plan to increase the time limit of the permits for killing wild boars from 15 days to six months for the forest department, and for this, they will now try to get permission from the Centre as well.
