Law allows shooting of aggressive wild animals; Officials hesitant to implement due to fear of criticism

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Officials tasked with wildlife protection hesitate to take action against aggressive wild animals, despite provisions in the Central Wildlife Protection Act. Section 11(1) A of the Act empowers the Chief Wildlife Warden to authorize the killing of wild animals that pose a threat to human life.

Under CrPC 133-1-F, the Sub-Collector also serving as the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, can sanction firing in situations of imminent danger. However, implementation is hindered by bureaucratic reluctance.

One key issue is the lack of a monitoring system within the forest department to track the movements of elephants. Although elephants are fitted with radio collars by private agencies, only these agencies possess the tracking technology leaving the forest department reliant on external information.