Conservationists outraged as Kerala minister 'suggests' tiger cull after farmer killed in animal attack

Conservationists in India were outraged after a minister in the country's southern state of Kerala reportedly suggested sterilisation or culling to keep the tiger population under check.

AK Saseendran, the state's wildlife minister, was speaking amid the outrage after a tiger killed a farmer recently away from the forest area.

He later told the BBC that he was only repeating a suggestion that was put forward by the local people over culling the striped cats.

But not many were convinced and Saseendran came under a barrage of criticism from experts who said that culling was a "legally untenable" solution.

India is home to more than 70 per cent of the world's tigers, according to the government's latest estimate with their numbers standing at 2,976. But their habitat has not grown at the same rate as a result of which several so-called "surplus" tigers have ventured out of the protected reserves and got into conflicts with humans.

Under a federal wildlife protection law which was implemented in 1972, it is virtually illegal to either kill or capture the tiger, designated India's national animal, even when there is a conflict with man.

The attack in Kerala occurred on January 13 in the Mananthavady forest range of Wayanad district in the state's northern part. The 50-year-old victim suffered serious injuries to hands and legs and died of cardiac arrest while being shifted from one hospital to another.

One medical report said that he had "excessive bleeding".

The incident left the local people angry and they protested against forest officials and sought the animal's death.

While Kerala's local reports said that Saseendran had suggested culling as a possible solution, he told the BBC that it was a suggestion from the local people who were present in a meeting with representatives of all political parties to find a solution to the problem.

"We have to find a solution to control the animals... I am not in a hurry to cull," he was quoted as saying.

Dr Ullas Karanth, a conservationist and tiger expert, told the news outlet that over the past five decades, India's tiger population had only grown by a thousand, which is far less than capacity.

"So the suggestion to cull tigers to reduce their numbers is not a sound idea," he said.

Praveen Bhargav, a former member of India's National Board for Wildlife, said a recently amended section of the national Wildlife Act does not allow declaration of tigers "as vermin", the BBC report added.

"The proposal of the forest minister is legally not tenable," he was quoted as saying.