Kerala govt suspends firearms licence restrictions for wild boar culling

The Kerala government has decided to temporarily suspend a recent order that imposed restrictions on licensed shooters in culling wild boars.

The Forest department directive had barred persons holding arms licences for sports or institutional purposes from engaging in wild boar culling. As a result, only those licence holders who held firearms authorised for crop protection or self-protection could be enlisted for the purpose.

The move was feared to jeopardise efforts made by local self-government institutions to control the wild boar menace in agricultural and human-inhabited areas. Notably, nearly half of the about 250 empanelled shooters possess firearms licence for sporting activities.

The issue has prompted Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran to direct the Additional Chief Secretary of the Forest department to freeze the implementation of the contentious order with immediate effect.

The order was based on a recommendation from the Idukki District Collector and the opinion of the Home department.

However, the Minister’s office stated that licensing authorities responsible for issuing arms licences should ideally examine the validity and scope of such licences before such restrictions are imposed. Besides, the government has decided that the legal validity and practical implications of issuing an order by the Forest department on the matter require detailed examination.

Under such circumstances, the Minister instructed that the order be kept in abeyance until a comprehensive review is completed.

Although local self-government institution heads had been authorised to permit the culling of problematic wild boars, several local bodies reported that the drive was not progressing effectively due to a shortage of licensed shooters.

Following such complaints, the Forest Minister recently directed the Chief Wildlife Warden to take urgent steps to ensure the availability of more licensed shooters in panchayats under all forest divisions to effectively control the wild boar menace.