
Wildlife board recommends using Section 144 during animal emergencies
The National Board of Wildlife has recommended that state governments use Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to prevent the gathering of a crowd during wildlife emergencies.
Usually in instances of human wildlife-conflicts, especially in a populous country like India, crowd control becomes a major issue, endangering not just the animal but also people. In 2016, a leopard was beaten to death by villagers in Gurgaon after it injured eight people. Forest officials who came to tranquillise the animal said their operation was hampered due to the presence of a large crowd.
When imposed by the district magistrate (DM), Section 144 of the CrPC prohibits the assembly of five or more people.
According to the minutes of the board’s meeting held in June, the provision will be used to “prevent people gathering in large numbers, which aggravates wildlife emergency situations.” The Union ministry is expected to issue advisories to the state governments to that effect.
“When there is a human-wildlife conflict, a crowd is going to interfere, it will make the situation much worse,” Janaki Lenin, author and conservationist, said. “In many cases they have trapped and killed the animal.”
Wildlife activists argue that even the existing protocols are not being implemented properly during wildlife emergencies and that there should be an inter-agency effort involving local law enforcement and administrative bodies in such cases.
“In a situation when a carnivore or a large herbivore is reported within a human-dominated space, a crowd gathers near the animal within minutes. By the time the forest department staff reach the, the crowd makes things difficult for technical operations,” Dipankar Ghose, director, species and landscapes at World Wildlife Fund (WWF)-India said.
The board has also recommended that Standard Operating Procedures or action plans be developed for emergency situations when a wild animal comes in close proximity of humans. There are already SOPs and guidelines in places for species like tigers, leopards and elephants.

PM Modi wishes people of Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura on their Statehood Day

Top court grants bail to Kannada actor Ragini Dwivedi in Sandalwood drugs case

Sasikala's health stable, needs oxygen due to secondary infections: Dhinakaran

Covid-19: PM Modi likely to get vaccinated in 2nd phase of inoculation drive

SCOD evaluates operational preparedness, coastal security in Arabian Sea

Kerala gold smuggling case: Legislators bring resolution against House Speaker
- Kerala speaker P Sreeramakrishnan’s name cropped up in connection with the gold smuggling case but the speaker has denied any involvement with the case.

Suvendu Adhikari accuses TMC of rigging in Lok Sabha polls
- Adhikari alleged that the ruling TMC pressured officials to not count the votes in 16 EVMs in Arambagh Lok Sabha constituency, due to which, the BJP candidate lost the polls narrowly.

IFFCO ranks first among top 300 cooperatives of the world

Regret not being there for you: Kangana remembers Sushant Singh on his birthday

15,223 new Covid-19 cases take India's tally to over 10.61 million

Phase 3 trial of Sputnik V vaccine begins in Agra
- New documents and data on Sputnik V, including a clinical report on the vaccine’s use among the 60-plus age group, says it showed an efficacy of around 91.8% in people over 60.

Ahead of Republic Day, MHA asks people not to use plastic flags

13 injured as fire breaks out due to cylinder explosion at Hyderabad home

Final probe report on Kozhikode air crash due in January delayed by 2 months
