How declaring man-animal conflict death as state disaster help conserve wildlife

Lucknow, Oct 20: In possibly the first-of-its-kind move, the Uttar Pradesh government has given its in-principle approval to bring man-animal conflict under listed disasters in State Disaster Response Fund to ensure better coordination and relief during such incidents.

As per the provisions of the order, in cases of human death due to man-animal conflict, relief of Rs 5 lakh would be given to the family of deceased while the disbursement of compensation for injury would be in accordance to SDRF guidelines.

The order also makes it clear that the amount of Rs 1 lakh per death would be arranged by the state forest department from its own budget to the Revenue Department.

The Wildlife Protection Act does not have provision for compensation in case any human being or cattle is killed by a wild animal within a protected area or sanctuary, noted wildlife expert Suresh Chaudhari said.

The government gives ex-gratia at fixed rates in such cases but that is a time-consuming process and may take a year to get relief, that too if inquiry clears such a payment, he said. Payment of ex-gratia amount to victims of wild animal attack is provided with a view to reduce retaliatory killings, according to the union ministry.

It is provided under Schemes of 'IDWH', 'Project Tiger' and 'Project Elephant', as and when sought by state governments and subject to availability of fund. Delays in getting ex-gratia triggers anger among local population against protected animals which often results in tigers and leopards being killed by villagers, said landscape coordinator of WWF in Uttar Pradesh, Mudit Gupta.

Inconsistency in compensation

There are several inconsistencies in compensation awarded for human-wildlife conflict - ranging from crop loss to human death - across the country, finds a study published on September 2 in Biological Conservation, an international journal on conservation science.

Scientists at Bengaluru's Centre for Wildlife Studies say a majority of the States awarded compensation for loss of livestock, human injury and death, only 18 (62%) did so for property damage. The complete data for 18 States in 2012-2013 alone reveals that people reported a total of 78,656 cases, for which payments totalled to about ₹ 38 crore. Yet, even these numbers are an underestimate of the extent of conflict: many people do not report their losses, some States lack compensation policies, and the team did not have access to the five-year compensation details of 11 other States.

How will it help conservation?

Notably, as per the central forestry rules, the payment of ex-gratia amount to victims of wild animal attack is provided with a view to reducing retaliatory killings. This move will help mitigate acrimony amidst local villagers, forest department and local administration in the conflict zones, especially, the districts in Terai arc landscape.

Uttar Pradesh has 23 wildlife sanctuaries across 27 districts covering over 5,000 sq km, besides Dudhwa National Park with an additional 490 sq km of area and Pilibhit Tiger Reserve with an area of 726 sq km, according to the data of a report by Wildlife Trust of India and the state government.

For the first time, lion and wild boar have been added to the list of wild animals which includes tiger, leopard, Indian wolf, hyena, crocodile, elephant and rhinoceros as predators. According to sources, 98 cases of human and big cats conflicts have been reported in the state in the last two years. Tiger attacks in Uttar Pradesh have alone claimed seven lives in last three years in Uttar Pradesh.

The declaration of such conflict under SDRF will also mean that police and local administration would now intervene in a situation wherein a herd of elephants enters a village, a leopard being spotted or a tiger venturing in human inhabitation, said a wildlife expert.