Coimbatore farmers urge Forest Department to cull wild boars

COIMBATORE The Forest Department must favour humans over animals and cull the wild boars that coloni

The Forest Department must favour humans over animals and cull the wild boars that colonise farmlands across the district immediately without age or gender-related restrictions, District Agricultural Production Committee along with farmers demanded at the Collectorate here on Monday.

The members claimed the Department restricted shooting infant or pregnant wild boars, which should be avoided. “The infants will grow and multiply eventually and continue menacing farmers by destroying over 6,000 acres in the Coimbatore district. Moreover, animals are destroying more than 12,000 acre of non-cultivable land. Due to this, landowners are unable to sell their property. Theanimals are causing a financial crisis for the landowners in Coimbatore,” V.K.S.K. Senthilkumar, a member of the committee, alleged.

“Kerala farmers also faced a similar problem and the government issued orders to control the wild boar population. But, in Tamil Nadu the Forest Department is yet to take action,” he claimed.

The Tamil Nadu government must intervene and revoke orders that allow culling of the wild boars with no age or gender bars, he stated. Further, the killed animals must be buried and Department must ensure that the meat is not sold, he added.

The members were speaking on the sidelines of the grievance redressal meeting that was held at the Coimbatore Collectorate.

Collector G.S Sameeran received a total of 402 petitions on the day.