Among the 344, 180 deaths were caused by snake bites, 103 by elephant attacks, 35 by wild pigs, and four deaths were attributed to tigers.
Published Mar 29, 2025 | 1:57 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 29, 2025 | 1:57 PM
Environment and Forest Minister Bhupendra Yadav with leaders from Kerala. (Supplied)
Synopsis: Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav revealed in the Rajya Sabha that 344 lives were lost in Kerala from 2021 to 2025 due to human- animal conflicts, with snakebites and elephant attacks being the leading causes. Yadav discussed initiatives like developing SACON as a scientific center, identifying elephant corridors, and collaborating with Railways to mitigate such conflicts.
Environment and Forest Minister Bhupendra Yadav, recently speaking in the Rajya Sabha, revealed that about 344 lives were lost accrosds Kerala from 2021 to 2025 due to human- animal conflicts.
Among the 344, 180 deaths were caused by snake bites, 103 by elephant attacks, 35 by wild pigs, and four deaths were attributed to tigers.
Noting that Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka share forests, the minister said, “We are trying to develop the SACON (Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History) in Coimbatore as a scientific centre on the man-animal conflict. We are also identifying elephant corridors and are doing elephant estimation and creating local awareness. We are also working with the Railways to identify their elephant routes.”
Citing the example of Chhattisgarh, the Union minister said, “We have an alarm system there, and share the information of elephant citing on local radios.”
Answering another supplementary question from MP John Brittas, Yadav said that Kerala’s village panchayats have been authorized to cull wild boars in affected areas. He cited cases of panchayats in Pallakad district killing wild boars.
He further emphasized balancing human safety with environmental conservation and outlined measures such as elephant corridor identification, population surveys, and railway collaboration to mitigate conflicts.
सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः
भारत की परंपरा सिर्फ human rights protection की नहीं animal rights protection की भी है… #RajyaSabha pic.twitter.com/hgI1g5UEot
— Bhupender Yadav (@byadavbjp) March 27, 2025
Additionally, he assured Kerala Congress (M) leader Jose K Mani of efforts to protect people from wildlife threats.
(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Dileep V Kumar)
