Growing peafowl population should be controlled by culling and other scientific measures, suggests a draft master plan for addressing human-wildlife conflict.
The plan, being prepared by the Kerala Forest Department, will be released within the public domain for discussion shortly.
After wild boar and monkeys, peafowls are ranked as the wild species causing maximum damage to crops in the feedback received from the general public, say senior forest officials involved in the preparation of the document.
Legal protection
Peacocks enjoy the highest legal protection among the avian species in the country as they have been accorded the status of the national bird and included in the Schedule One of the Wildlife Protection Act.
Incidentally, a couple on a motorcycle met with an accident at Thrissur on Monday after a flying peacock hit the rider on his chest. While the man died in the accident, his wife had sustained serious injuries.
P. Narayanan Unny, who specialises in Navara paddy farming, says the birds have turned crop-raiders in many parts of the State, with farmers raising the issue with the authorities for long. The muster of peafowls that land on agricultural holdings destroy the crop by feeding on them. They feed on maze, little gourd, chilli and paddy. The birds also finish off the plants, leading to huge loss to farmers, he says.
Officials says that tiger, leopard and jackals are the natural predators of the bird in the wild. However, the absence of the natural predators in human settlements and the legal protection available have contributed to the steep increase in its population. Though no species-specific population data on peafowls are available, its presence have been recorded in most parts of the State, they point out.
Permission
Most number of complaints come from Palakkad and Thrissur districts. Culling is one of the options to keep its population under check and it would require the permission of the Chief Wildlife Warden to gun them down, indicate Forest officials.
The number of birds that need to be culled has to be fixed in each location. The permission to gun them down can be given to licensed gunners or uniformed staff, suggests the plan.
