Goa farmers group lauds tigress killers, invite them here

PANAJI: The All Goa Farmers’ Sangh has congratulated the principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) of Nagpur, Maharashtra whose team shot dead the tigress ‘Avni’, and also extended an invite to the wildlife section of the forest department of Maharashtra to Goa to tackle the animals attacking their crops.
“We would be grateful if you come to Goa, as we farmers are facing heavy losses of crops due to pest animals,” the letter from the group stated.
The group said that it was easy to take a pro-animal stand and nobody understands the challenges faced by farmers suffering from wild animal attacks on crops in Goa.
Declare certain species as vermin, ryots urge government
“We extend our support to you for your initiative in saving further loss of human lives,” the letter from the sangh stated. Owing to the man-animal conflicts and destruction of their crops, farmers in Goa had been appealing to the state government to declare certain wild animals as vermin.
Believed to have been responsible for the deaths of 13 people in Maharashtra in the past two years, tigress Avni was shot dead earlier in November by the wildlife section of the forest department of Maharashtra. The tigress, T1, as she was known officially, was killed in the Yavatmal district of the state.
Owing to the man-animal conflicts and destruction of their crops over the past few years, farmers in Goa had been appealing to the state government to declare certain wild animals as vermin. They insisted that four animals from schedule 3 and 4 be reclassified to schedule 5. The animals which were sought to be declared as vermin are; wild boar and monkey (rhesus macaque), porcupine and flying squirrel. Farmers also started pushing for the Indian bison, which is a schedule 2 animal to be added to this list.
Due to the special status granted to these animals, the government cannot declare them as vermin. In October, Vijai Sardesai, the town & country planning and agriculture minister in the Parrikar government, had made a statement to the media that the wild boar must also be declared a vermin.