37 Kerala forest personnel have lost their lives in the line of duty since 1969.
Published Feb 07, 2025 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated Feb 11, 2025 | 5:11 PM
From sudden attacks to narrow escapes, their experiences serve as reminders of the raw, unpredictable danger of the wild.(https://aashim.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/dscf2233.jpg)
Synopsis: Kerala’s forest department has lost 37 personnel since 1969 in their dangerous mission to manage escalating human-wildlife conflicts, with elephant attacks claiming the highest toll of 13 lives. The forest guards, who work for daily wages as low as ₹970 and often face delayed payments, routinely risk their lives to drive wild animals back from human settlements without adequate protection or risk allowances.
Kerala’s forests have become ground zero for an intensifying conflict between wilderness and human expansion for decades. As wildlife habitats shrink under the combined pressures of climate change and rapid development, a thin line of defence stands between chaos and coexistence – protecting wildlife from human interference whilst keeping local communities safe from animal encounters, often at devastating personal cost.
“The wild buffalo disappeared for a split second – then, out of nowhere, it struck me with full force. If I had not jumped in that instant, I might not be alive to tell this story,” Beat Forest Officer Rajesh R of the Thiruvananthapuram Forest Division recalls.
Rajesh suffered a fracture in his left leg and remains hospitalised since the attack on 3 February. It was his first encounter with a wild animal since joining the department in 2020. What might have been a routine rescue operation turned into a near-death experience in the blink of an eye.
Yet he is one of the luckier ones. Between 1969 and January 2025, 37 Kerala forest department officials, including Indian Forest Service officers and forest watchers, have lost their lives in the line of duty, according to Additional Principal Chief Forest Conservator Pramod G Krishnan.
Elephant attacks caused the majority of these fatalities, claiming 13 officials.
Other causes of death include assaults by criminals, snake bites, attacks by wildlife, extreme cold, and forest fires.
Abid, Forest Watcher from Palakkad
Shainul Abid, a forest watcher from Olavakkod in Palakkad, suffered burns whilst bursting crackers on 1 December to drive elephants back into the forest after they had strayed into human settlements. This was the second time he had been injured whilst bursting crackers to scare away an elephant herd.
His earlier injuries were still healing when the second incident occurred. Still, he counts himself fortunate that he lost no fingers – unlike some of his colleagues.
“We, the forest watchers, are exposed to the most dangerous situations,” he says. Through this work, he earns a daily wage of ₹970; wages that aren’t always reliably deposited and could be held up for months together at times. When expenses mount, especially during crises requiring hospitalisation, the concern about money adds to what is already a stressful job.
Abid was hospitalised for 26 days and received a ₹10,000 medical voucher from the forest department. But it barely covered the treatment.
Despite all the hardship, Abid returned to work and rejoined his team soon after recovery.
Meanwhile, on 10 July 2024, Section Forest Officer Jagdeesh, part of a team deployed to drive back an elephant that had strayed into a human settlement during the daytime in the Thiruvizhamkunnu Forest Section, fell whilst chasing the elephant and was attacked by the wild animal.
“His spine was injured and there was organ damage too; he is yet to recover fully,” Abdul Latheef, Divisional Forest Officer of Mannarkkad Forest Division, told South First.
“Such incidents happen but do not get the attention they deserve. We are on the frontlines of mitigating human-wildlife conflict, yet we receive no special risk allowance. Dealing with wild animals can cost us our lives.”
The forest department observes National Forest Martyrs Day every year on 11 September to recognise the 37 killed in the line of duty.
Hussain TK and Shaktivel (2023)
N Rajasekharan Nair was the first IFS officer whose death is recorded, dying from an elephant attack near the Bandipur Wildlife Sanctuary boundary on 20 February 1976.
Chellappan, a forest watcher in the Marayoor Sandal Division, died in 2007 whilst patrolling the area for criminals. It was recorded as a death from exposure to cold.
Rajasekharan Nair (1976), Ramakrishna Pillai (1985), KK Balakrishnan (2007), K Sudheer (2009), VV Subrahmanyan (2012), Bomman (2016), Karyan (2018), AS Biju (2020), Hussain TK (2022), and Shaktivel (2023) lost their lives to elephant attacks.
Murugesh (2010) and Shobiy (2014) died from snake bites. Ayyav (1998) was decapitated by cannabis farmers. TK Krishnankutty Nair (1969), PK Sukumaran (1976), OJ Sebastian (1986), SA Krishna (1987), and P Devadas (2011) lost their lives in attacks by forest criminals.
Assistant Conservator of the Biodiversity Cell, Muhammad Anvar, said forest department staff remain fully occupied with mitigating human-elephant conflict.
“We don’t seek applause from the public or media, but the sacrifices made by forest department personnel are immeasurable. From 1 April to 30 September 2024, there were only three days when the Mannarkkad Rapid Response Team in Palakkad was not called to drive elephants back from villages. On all other days, they had to respond – mostly at 2 or 3 am,” he said.
Wildlife Warden of Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary, G Pradeep, mentioned similar challenges: “Almost every day, we are out driving elephants back into the wild. The elephant wall is under construction but progressing slowly due to funding constraints. So far, we have completed three km, but a significant portion remains to be built,” he told South First.
Pradeep said that despite the challenges, the staff have worked diligently to prevent any human fatalities in the past one and a half years.
Not all alerts require staff deployment. Latheef mentioned that they occasionally receive false alerts.
“Just yesterday, we received a message about a tiger sighting in Injakkayam. We immediately went on high alert, but discovered that it was actually a forwarded message that was quite old. We quickly informed the public and reassured them,” he added.
Rapid Response Teams of the wildlife department, however, can never let their guard down. “We work in shifts to prevent exhaustion, but the risks remain high,” Latheef said.
Each rescue mission is a gamble, and a single misstep could mean severe injury or death. Yet, for the forest watchers, it is all in a day’s work.
