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

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 midday 624 people have been killed and over 5000 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 periodMajority 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 forestsmidday had filed an RTI query with the Maharashtra Forest Department regarding the number of deaths in Human Wildlife Conflicts HWC involving tigerleopardelephantblack bearwild boar from January 2012 to January 2023T1 the tigress Avni who was suspected of killing 13 humans in Pandharkawda in 2018In 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 compensationWith decreasing forest cover and increasing humanwildlife interactions experts say HumanWildlife Conflicts will be a major challenge in the near futureAlmost 350 injured every yearAs 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 MaharashtraThe highest deaths at 98 people due to HWC took place in the year 20222023 till January 2023 followed by 86 deaths in 20212022 and 82 in 20202021The highest human injuries due to HWC was 700 people in the year 20152016 followed by 686 people in 20162017 and 648 people in 20222023 The Maharashtra FD has paid Rs 45783 crore spent towards compensation between January 12012 and January 26 2023Also read Maharashtra Four tiger cubs found dead in Tadoba Andhari reserves buffer zoneMaharashtra the third largest state with a geographical area of 307713 square kilometres has a total recorded forest area of 61952 square kilometres This includes 50865 sqkm of Reserved Forest 6433 sqkm of Protected Forest and 4654 sqkm of Unclassed Forests area Unclassed Forest includes all forest other than Reserve Forest and Protected Forest as reported by StateUTs Forest DepartmentsAccording to the status of the tiger report 2022 which was released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday India has 3167 tigers The tiger population has increased by 200 in the past 4 years and this is the alltime high tiger census data Tiger numbers in Maharashtra rose from 312 in 2018 to 375 in 2022 as per the latest tiger censusAccording to the Indian governmentrsquos lsquoStatus of Leopard in India 2018rsquo report published on December 21 2021 the northeastern landscape has 141 leopards out of 12852 estimated across the country while the Shivalik Hills and Gangetic Plains range has recorded 1253 leopards Central India and the Eastern Ghats range has 8071 leopards and Western Ghats range has 3386According to the report there were 1690 leopards in Maharashtra of which 6537 population stay outside sanctuaries national parks and tiger reserveslsquoMore wildlife less habitatrsquoWildlife conservationist Kedar Gore from the Corbett Foundation said humanwildlife 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 compromisedldquoThis has resulted in an abundance of wildlife species in some areas without having habitat connectivity for dispersal and such areas have turned into humanwildlife conflict hotspots The spread of invasive and unpalatable foraging species in forests drives wild animals to feed on crops leading to conflict situations We havenrsquot really managed to minimise the dependence of the local communities on forest resources ndash be it fuel wood livestock grazing or nontimber forest product collection When people enter forests they are bound to encounter wild animals and these chance encounters end up in conflict situations said GoreldquoWe must invest in promoting stall feeding of livestock provide alternative livelihoods and help in popularising the use of LPG instead of woodbased 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 disturbedrdquo he addedGore 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 humanwildlife negative incidents can be brought down but can never be stopped completelySarosh Lodhi cofounder of CLaW group and a conservation photographer said ldquoThe figures are surely disturbing Looking at the trend itrsquos 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 dynamicsrdquoHuman deaths and injuries624Human deaths between January 12012 and January 26 20235448Humans hurt between Jan 1 2012 and Jan 26 2023Cattlelivestock86431Cattlelivestock killed between January 1 2012 and January 26 20231786Cattlelivestock injured between January 12012 and January 26 2023Crop damage cases36226Crop damage cases between Jan 12012 and Jan 26 2023Compensation 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 125 lakh in compensation for serious injuries For minor injuries treated in a private hospital for up to Rs 20000 the Forest Department pays the bill In addition the department now pays Rs 70000 or 7537 of market value in the event that a cow buffalo or ox is killed by wildlife Rs 15000 in the event that a goat sheep or other domestic animal is killed Rs 15000 in the event that a domestic animal becomes permanently disabled and Rs 5000 in the event that another animal is injured