On the occasion of World Wildlife Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have had a field day looking at Gir lions in Gujarat, but sadly, things are not well in the 'Jungle'. When it comes to taking steps towards the conservation of forests and wildlife, the Modi government seems to have a major challenge ahead - illegal logging and mining. One report also suggests that India may become the global hotspot for "wildlife-human conflict" by 2070.
Let us begin by looking at recent reports; most states have been experiencing unusually high animal-human negative interactions. For example, last month in Lucknow, a leopard was reportedly "gatecrashed" a wedding. But other districts are reporting far more grim scenario. Bijnor reported its 28th leopard victim only last week. The news further says that about "500" leopards may still be camping in the sugarcane fields in the district. The affected villagers have already started to use iron nets to protect cattle and themselves. At night time, villagers are locked up, and people haunted by leopard attacks are coming out only in groups. In fact, as per a media report between 2020-22, "98 cases of human and big cat conflicts have been reported in the state in the last two years. Tiger attacks in Uttar Pradesh alone have claimed seven lives in the last three years".
Close to Bijnor, Dehradun in mid-January reportedly saw another child attacked by a leopard. Down south in Tamil Nadu, a 22-year-old woman was killed in another leopard attack in Vellore. Other states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh, etc have been experiencing leopard attacks. But the trouble is not just limited to big cats.
Elephant attacks are the second symptom of a larger problem. Karnataka, on March 4th, announced additional compensation to wild elephant attack victims. India reported 2,829 human casualties due to elephant attacks in 2024. In fact, when we look at the annual figures, "the year 2023-24 reported the highest 629 human casualties followed by 605 in 2022-23" as per the environment ministry, due to elephant attacks.
When we look at Chattisgarh, reportedly about 595 lives lost in 11 years until 2024. Meanwhile, smaller towns and villages near the jungles are facing threats from wildlife, mainly elephants each season. Jashpur, which is quite close to the Chief Minister’s constituency, hasn’t been spared by elephants either. But still, no policy has been created for stopping deforestation or creating green corridors for the prevention of negative human-animal interactions. Illegal mining and logging is also growing in the state.
Down south, again Kerala is reporting a huge number of wildlife negative interactions, especially during the 2018-19 period, which resulted in many deaths annually. In the year 2024, 57 people succumbed to these conflicts.
But it's not leopards or elephants alone. When we look at tiger attacks, the government reports that "349 people were killed in tiger attacks" from 2019-2024, "with Maharashtra alone recording 200 deaths." And as per the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), 227 tigers were killed due to poaching since 2012, with Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra toping the charts.
Now, the final symptom is the rampant destruction of crops by nilgai or the blue bulls. Blue Bulls have been a major agrarian problem all over in the North India. From Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, etc Blue bulls cause havoc every season. The problem is so severe in Bihar that the government has now resorted to culling them. If we take the example of Maharashtra, the forest department pays up 150 crore every year to cover for crop damages from deer, nilgai and wild boars.
So having analysed various situations of human- wildlife conflict, we have to ask the question why is all this happening? The honest answer comes from within the BJP ranks. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, speaking at the Lok Bhavan in September 2024, said, "If the forests burn, the environment will be damaged and landslides will occur. Not only wildlife, but humans will also have to face the ill effects of untimely climate change. Human-wildlife conflicts occur due to reduction of forests."
Let us examine the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister's claims. As per a report, in the previous five years, close to one lakh hectares of forest land for non-forest activities under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.
Now one could say it's simplistic of Uttar Pradesh CM Adityanath to blame on deforestation alone, there are several reasons why- including the adaptability and resilience of species such as leopards and elephants, changing climate patterns, easier food access near human settlements, etc. But that doesn’t still undermine the reality. Deforestation is a major crisis which is affecting animal and human lives both. For the purpose of this analysis, let's focus on deforestation, and see what does it reveal. Is there some truth in Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister's words?
As ever since Modi came to power, the speed of deforestation has increased, mostly due to illegal deforestation. Illegal logging in the Konkan area reportedly led to the destruction of 1600 acres in South Konkan in the period between 2014-2019 alone. Another report form the North East states is alarming, the northeast states have lost 17,650 sq km of tree cover in between 2001-23, that's about 12 times the area of Delhi. By the end of the first term in 2019, there was a reported loss of 1.2 lakh hectares of forests. Another media report tells us that India lost over 2.33 million hectares of tree cover in the last two decades.
Now these increased green cover and forests don’t go with increased wildlife attacks. These two facts contradict each other. For if there is enough space and food in the jungles and forests, why would the animals come to human settlements, especially cities like Pune and Lucknow? As mentioned before, that there are other reasons also, but if one looks at the deforestation and illegal logging that has increased the increased number of negative human-animal interactions could very well have an invisible hand.
Illegal logging and mining operations are also added pressure on the animal corridors and increasing the probability of human-animal conflicts.
Now, if the government still wants to swerve away from being global hotspot for animal-human negative interactions, it must put all its might to stop illegal logging in all parts of the country, especially in BJP-ruled states. States with more forest and green cover like Chattisgarh should be a priority for conservation. Additional money should be spent on creating green corridors between states so bigger animals like elephants and tigers can freely move without disturbing human villages.
The Modi government ought to buckle up and take a step towards restoring the ecological and wildlife balance and not dilute environmental laws further for profits. This will be the real litmus test of our philosophy of' 'Vasudeva kutumbhakam'. Modi needs to come hard on the illegal lumber mills, loggers and mining operations to safeguard our biological diversity and also give our animals a renewed habitat.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of ETV Bharat)
