Wild boar menace haunts farmers in Thoothukudi

With the maize harvest season under way in Thoothukudi district, farmers raised concerns over wild boar attacks, after two farmers, including a woman from Kailasapuram in Pudur block of Vilathikulam taluk were injured.

There were repeated grievances from the farmers of taluks including Vilathikulam and Ettayapuram, citing the wild boar and deer intrusions into the farm lands.

On Wednesday, a woman identified as Lakshmi, 62 from Kailasapuram was attacked by wild boar, while she was at a banana plantation in the village. “I was cutting fodder in the field, when a wild boar attacked me,” she said. She sustained a bite injury to her knee and was treated at Government Hospital in Sattur.

She noted that officials from the forest department had visited her on Thursday and advised the villagers to capture the animals and release them into the forest area. “Two days ago another farmer named Moorthy from the same village got attacked by wild boars at his maize field,” she said.

A.Varadharajan, president of Karisal Bhoomi Farmers’ Association said that farmers from these regions have been suffering due to this menace for the past few years, as wild boars have been continuously destroying crops and feeding on harvested grains. He noted that multiple complaints were made to the government to curb the attacks, but officials failed to respond adequately.

Speaking about the incident, M. Ilayaraja, District Forest Officer, Thoothukudi said, that the forest department has conducted genetic tests on few animals reported to be wild boars of northern parts of Thoothukudi district, but all were found to be feral pigs. He added that compensation cannot be provided in cases involving feral pigs.

“We are continuing to monitor the presence of wild boars in the northern part of the district. For now, villagers and local body members have been instructed to cage the ferals and release them into forest areas,” he said.

However, Sivasubramaniyan, a farmer from Ayanrajapatti disputed the claim, saying the animals were wild boars and not feral pigs. He said these animals nest along Vaippar river banks during the day and raid the crops at night. With the maize harvest season underway, many wild boars have moved towards maize fields, posing not only a threat to crops but also farmers, he added.