Wakeful in Wayanad: Life in the shadow of sabre-toothed predators

Kerala By K A Shaji December 1, 2022 Read the article

In the picturesque landscape of Wayanad, Kerala, five people lost their lives to man-eating tigers in as many years.

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Kerala has about four lakh Adivasis. Almost half of them are in interior Wayanad, including the Paniyas, Kurumas and Ooralis tribes.

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Several farmhands and nominal farmers like KV Sasi have switched to rearing cows. Their lives and livelihoods are now under threat.

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The Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) is not a tiger reserve, but it is contiguous with tiger reserves of Nagarhole, Bandipur and Mudulalai.

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Forest fragmentation, change in land-use patterns, climate change-related issues and human interference have escalated human-wildlife conflict

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Each time cows are killed, revenue officials visit the scene and declare a meagre amount as compensation.

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Cow vigilantes, but not the kind of ‘north Indian vigilantes who target meat eaters’, volunteer to move around to scare the tigers away.

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Some have recommended declaring WWS a tiger reserve and relocate residents, to which there has been stiff resistance.

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Relocation would pose a challenge to the livelihood of tribals and is accompanied by meagre financial compensation.

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“Only those with false illusions are mooting the relocation of the residents,” Sajan of the Cheeral People’s Protest Committee, said.

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“A lasting solution seems distant,” said Sasi.

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