Parliament Question: Rising Wild Animal Attacks

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3561 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.08.2026 Rising Wild Animal Attacks

3561. ADV. ADOOR PRAKASH:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is aware of rising human casualties in escalating wild animal attack in many States including Kerala;

(b) whether the Union Government has received request from States including Kerala to make necessary amendments in the relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act to address the escalating man-animal conflict;

(c) if so, the details thereof and the response of the Union Government thereto;

(d) whether the Union Government is aware that the State of Kerala has passed a Bill to amend the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 to address the rising human-animal conflict in the State, if so, the response of the Government thereto; and

(e) whether the Union Government is likely to convene a meeting of the State Forest Ministers to review the situation and prepare a national plan considering the severeness of the issue, if so, the details thereof? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI KIRTI VARDHAN SINGH)

(a): Incidents of human-wildlife conflict have been reported from various parts of the country, including Kerala. Management of wildlife and mitigation of human-wildlife conflict are primarily the responsibility of the respective State Governments/Union Territory Administrations, which maintain details of such incidents and the species involved.

(b) to (e): The Ministry received the “Wild Life Protection (Kerala Amendment) Bill, 2025”, for amendment of certain provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, which was not agreed to, as the existing provisions of the Act already provide a regulatory framework for addressing human- wildlife conflict.

The Ministry engages with the State Governments/ Union Territory Administrations including with the State Forest Ministers/public representative on the issue and has recently set up Centre of Excellence for Human–Wildlife Conflict Management at the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), WII–South India Centre, Coimbatore, to strengthen the scientific and institutional framework for managing human–wildlife conflict and also launched the Human wildlife conflict portal as the national repository for human-wildlife conflict incident data and as a decision-support tool.

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