Man-animal conflict costs Maharashtra Rs 450 cr over past 10 years

This leopard was trapped in March at Dindoshi after sightings in the area and Malad. File pic

The rise in numbers of tigers in India as declared recently, or increase in our other fauna is undoubtedly good news. But the rise in Human Wildlife Conflicts (HWC) in the past 10 years is alarming. According to the exclusive data available with mid-day, 624 people have been killed and over 5,000 were injured in Maharashtra between January 2012 and January 2023 due to HWC. The Maharashtra Forest Department has paid over R450 crore towards compensation due to HWC (including for human deaths, injuries, cattle loss and crops damage) in the period.

Majority of the deaths in HWC are due to the big cats - tigers and leopards. Experts say the rising HWC are due to the decreasing forest cover and continued dependence of humans on forests.

mid-day had filed an RTI query with the Maharashtra Forest Department regarding the number of deaths in Human Wildlife Conflicts (HWC) (involving tiger/leopard/elephant/black bear/wild boar) from January 2012 to January 2023..

T1, the tigress Avni who was suspected of killing 13 humans in Pandharkawda in 2018

In the RTI we had also asked for details about the cattle killed in HWC (even incidents involving cattle are considered HWC) and the compensation paid by the Maharashtra government to the families of those who died in HWC as also for crop or cattle compensation.

With decreasing forest cover and increasing human-wildlife interactions, experts say Human-Wildlife Conflicts will be a major challenge in the near future.
Almost 350 injured every year

As per the data by the Maharashtra Forest Department, it can be clearly seen that on an average, 35 people have died every year in HWC in Maharashtra in the past 10 years. On an average 350 people are injured in HWC every year in Maharashtra.

The highest deaths at 98 people due to HWC took place in the year 2022-2023 (till January 2023), followed by 86 deaths in 2021-2022 and 82 in 2020-2021.

The highest human injuries due to HWC was 700 people in the year 2015-2016, followed by 686 people in 2016-2017 and 648 people in 2022-2023. The Maharashtra FD has paid Rs 457.83 crore spent towards compensation between January 1,2012 and January 26, 2023.

Also read: Maharashtra: Four tiger cubs found dead in Tadoba Andhari reserve's buffer zone

Maharashtra, the third largest state with a geographical area of 3,07,713 square kilometres, has a total recorded forest area of 61,952 square kilometres. This includes 50,865 sq.km of Reserved Forest, 6,433 sq.km of Protected Forest and 4,654 sq.km of Unclassed Forests area. Unclassed Forest includes all forest other than Reserve Forest and Protected Forest as reported by State/UTs Forest Departments.

According to the status of the tiger report 2022 which was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, India has 3,167 tigers. The tiger population has increased by 200 in the past 4 years and this is the all-time high tiger census data. Tiger numbers in Maharashtra rose from 312 in 2018 to 375 in 2022 as per the latest tiger census.

According to the Indian government's ‘Status of Leopard in India, 2018' report published on December 21, 2021 , the northeastern landscape has 141 leopards out of 12,852 estimated across the country while the Shivalik Hills and Gangetic Plains range has recorded 1,253 leopards, Central India and the Eastern Ghats range has 8,071 leopards and Western Ghats range has 3,386.

According to the report, there were 1,690 leopards in Maharashtra of which 65% population stay outside sanctuaries, national parks, and tiger reserves.

‘More wildlife, less habitat'

Wildlife conservationist Kedar Gore from the Corbett Foundation said human-wildlife negative interactions in buffer and other multiple use areas in any wilderness landscape have increased, as our forest landscapes have been highly fragmented and habitat quality compromised.

"This has resulted in an abundance of wildlife species in some areas without having habitat connectivity for dispersal, and such areas have turned into human-wildlife conflict hotspots. The spread of invasive and unpalatable foraging species in forests drives wild animals to feed on crops, leading to conflict situations. We haven't really managed to minimise the dependence of the local communities on forest resources - be it fuel - wood, livestock grazing, or non-timber forest product collection. When people enter forests, they are bound to encounter wild animals, and these chance encounters end up in conflict situations," said Gore.

"We must invest in promoting stall feeding of livestock, provide alternative livelihoods, and help in popularising the use of LPG instead of wood-based chulhas. All this will have a cumulative effect on the reduction of human dependence on forests. Changing to crops unpalatable to elephants and other wild herbivores might help in reducing crop feeding. Elephants may damage more crops when actively driven away than what they would have eaten if they were allowed to eat without being disturbed," he added.

Gore also pointed out that with wild animals and humans sharing forest landscapes, cases of HWC are unavoidable, but with coordinated efforts of all stakeholders, the human-wildlife negative incidents can be brought down but can never be stopped completely.

Sarosh Lodhi, co-founder of CLaW group and a conservation photographer said, "The figures are surely disturbing. Looking at the trend - it's going to get worse. Reducing habitat and increasing human population are two opposite ends at this conflict with no standard remedy to the problem. Each region will have to tackle the issue separately given the local dynamics."

Human deaths and injuries

624
Human deaths between January 1,2012 and January 26, 2023.

5,448
Humans hurt between Jan 1, 2012 and Jan 26, 2023

Cattle/livestock

86,431
Cattle/livestock killed between January 1, 2012 and January 26, 2023.

1,786
Cattle/livestock injured between January 1,2012 and January 26, 2023.

Crop damage cases

36,226
Crop damage cases between Jan 1,2012 and Jan 26, 2023

Compensation paid is highest in India

. The Maharashtra Forest department raised the amount of financial aid provided to families of people killed by wild animals from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 20 lakh in August 2022. During the tenure of the previous BJP government, the compensation was raised from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 15 lakh.

. The compensation is paid in tiger, leopard, bear, blue bull, wild boar, wolf, hyena, crocodile, wild dog, or elephant attacks when a human dies in them.

. A person receives Rs 5 lakh in compensation if they are left permanently disabled as a result of the attack, and Rs 1.25 lakh in compensation for serious injuries. For minor injuries treated in a private hospital for up to Rs 20,000, the Forest Department pays the bill.

. In addition, the department now pays Rs 70,000, or 75% of market value, in the event that a cow, buffalo, or ox is killed by wildlife; Rs 15,000 in the event that a goat, sheep, or other domestic animal is killed; Rs 15,000 in the event that a domestic animal becomes permanently disabled; and Rs 5,000 in the event that another animal is injured.