The Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisation (FIAPO) has united over 100 animal protection organisations opposing the move of Environment Ministry to cull animals by declaring them as vermins. In a letter to Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar, the organisations have offered to help address the grave issue of human-wildlife conflict in a sustainable manner, noting that killing animals was not in keeping with Indian ethos.
They said before even considering culling as an option, there is a need to invest time, effort and funds to address the conflict using non-invasive means. There is also serious concern about the manner in which culling orders have been issued. Decisions seem to have been taken in a random manner, with no scientific basis, they said in the letter.
The NGOs asked the Union Environment Minister to take critical steps to ensure that the myriad problems of human-wildlife conflict are mitigated or reduced in a scientific manner.
"There is a dire need to move away from these quick fix solutions that will merely aggravate human-animal conflict in long-term, sustainable planning and implementation that stresses on non-invasive and innovative methods of mitigating conflict," the letter said.
The organisations in their letter suggested some "non killing" solutions for blue bull menace which include application of bio-pesticides with a mixture of cow urine, neem and dry chilli kept airtight for 40 days. It further said that jatropha plantation too has been suggested as a very effective way to keep away animals from the fields.
The NGOs said that random culling not only causes damage to ecological cycles and poses a threat of depleting species, but is also at cross-roads with policies of landscape and corridor conservation.
They stressed on the need to address the issue at landscape level as opposed to State level and call for innovative area specific approaches to be tried out as pilots as the next step.