West Bengal Governor Ananda Bose with 14 recommendations to protect farmers from wildlife attacks

KOLKATA: West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose has submitted a report to the Central Government containing 14 recommendations to help curb the increasing incidence of wildlife attacks and human cruelty in West Bengal and Kerala. Ananda Bose, a former IAS officer, was also the head of the Wildlife Conservation Department.

The main recommendation submitted by Ananda Bose is that carrying capacity studies should be carried out urgently in forest areas that are prone to wildlife attacks. Each forest area has a limit to the number of wildlife it can accommodate. When this limit is exceeded, the animals will start coming out of the forest. In that case, there are many ways to sustainably deploy over-the-limit wildlife within the forest itself. Such ways should be adopted as soon as possible, Ananda Bose says in his report.

Other key recommendations to help eliminate and mitigate human-wildlife conflict are:

• Install strobe lights as a temporary means of keeping wild animals away. Install adequate electric fences. Wear protective masks considering the aggressive nature of animals, especially tigers.
• Scientifically establish wildlife corridors.
• Use GPS mapping collar and GIS software as required
• Conduct educational campaigns to create awareness about the behaviour of wild animals and ways to protect oneself from them
• Provide immediate compensation and financial assistance to the kin of those who are killed in wild animal attacks and to those who suffer loss of crops
• Establish a risk fund to effectively deal with human-wildlife conflict.
• Strengthen surveillance systems with the help of modern technology, especially artificial intelligence.
• Appoint an expert committee to visit areas of high human-wildlife conflict, collect evidence from people and recommend appropriate action
• Promote traditional protective practices and safety equipment.
• Regulate land use in such a way as to preserve forest land for animals and protect farmers' crops from wild animals. Prepare a long-term plan with people's participation for that.
• Strengthen aerial surveillance using modern techniques such as drones in conflict-prone forest areas.