Much to the disappointment of animal lovers and organizations like PETA, the environment ministry is all set to give permission to state governments to hunt animals they classify as vermin.
The states of Maharashtra, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand in particular are very keen to get this permission, since wild boars and blue bulls have been creating havoc for the farmers.
The reason why animal activists are up in arms, is because a simple notification on a government file will seal the fate of the animal. And we all are aware of how dubious such procedures are in India.
Vermin in simple lay man terms means a nuisance. Once the ministry terms a animal as vermin, the state government will have a free hand to hunt down these animals.
The environment minister Prakash Javadekar defended his decision by saying that there was provision for this in the Schedules of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) 1972. The important thing to note here is that the Act came into place in 1972, when animal territories were not being hounded by humans.
Since when did shooting an animal become a solution for fixing an ecological imbalance?
It is we who are in their backyards and not vice versa!
