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13 Jun 2022 Vermin animal

Posted at 17:58h in Daily current-affairs by khyati khare 0 Comments

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The Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021 was introduced in the Parliament in December 2021 to amend the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
The basic objective of the amendment is to align the Act with the change in circumstances and try to emulate the appropriate solution to the killing of vermin/pest animals.

Vermin are basically problematic or harmful animals because they pose a threat to humans, crops, livestock or property.
Species that are placed in Schedule V of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 are classified as vermin.
Examples: crows, fruit bats, rats that can be freely hunted.
The Act does not define the word vermin. Section 62 of the Wildlife Protection Act empowers the central government to declare any wild animal as vermin.
Species of wild animals included in Schedule I and Schedule II of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 cannot be declared as vermin.
An animal can be declared as a vermin in any specified area and for a specified period.
To prevent human-wildlife conflicts, several states have petitioned in the past to declare various animals, including elephants, Indian porcupines, bonnet macaques, langurs and barking deer, as vermin.
Center has declared rhesus monkey in Himachal Pradesh, wild boar in Uttarakhand and Nilgai in Bihar as vermin.

The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 provides a legal framework for the protection of various species of wild animals and plants, the management of their habitats, as well as the regulation and control of trade in wild animals, plants and their products.
The Act also lists the schedules of plants and animals that are protected and monitored by the government.
The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 currently has six schedules which provide separate protection to animals and plants. The Hindu Analysis
Animals of the breeds and classes listed in Schedule I and Part II of Schedule II enjoy the highest protection. For example Himalayan brown bear, Indian elephant, golden geckos, Andaman teal, hornbills, black coral, Amara brucei and many more. The highest punishment has been prescribed for offenses under these.
Animals of breeds and classes listed in Schedule III and Schedule IV are also protected, for example barking deer, falcon, kingfisher, tortoise, etc., but the penalties are comparatively less.
Schedule V includes animals that can be hunted. For example, crows, rats and rodents, fruit bats etc.
Prohibited from cultivation and planting of plants, trees and crops mentioned in Schedule VI. For example, Kooth, Red Wanda, Pitcher Plant etc.

The Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021 As a significant amendment, the number of schedules has been reduced from six to four.
Schedule I will include species that require the highest level of protection.
Schedule II will include species that need less protection.
Whereas plants will be included in Schedule III. The Hindu Analysis
It provides for the complete abolition of Schedule V. This excludes vermin species from any sort of schedule. The term vermin refers to small animals that spread diseases and contaminate/harm foods.
It incorporates a new program for species listed in the appendices under CITES (Scheduled Species).
The Central Government will have the right to declare any species as a vermin species.
Thus it becomes easy to place any species in the category of vermin species.
This change could potentially affect 41 species of mammals, 864 birds, 17 reptiles and amphibians and over 58 insect species.

Increasing human-wildlife conflict poses a threat to both animals and humans.
Incidents such as crop/livestock damage are widely reported from different parts of the country.
Crop loss of Rs 184.28 crores was recorded by the Agriculture Department of Himachal Pradesh in the year 2016 due to wild animals, especially monkeys.
Since 2017, Tamil Nadu has recorded 7,562 incidents of wild animals causing damage to agriculture.