Wild Animal Attacks

As per available reports in the Ministry, the details of human deaths due to attack by elephants and tigers during the last five years in various states are given at Annexure-I and Annexure II. The said information in respect of the State of Kerala is given separately, as given below.

As informed by the State Government of Kerala, the number of human deaths due to attack by wild animals including elephants, tigers and leopards for the last five years is as follows:

Year	Death caused by elephants	Death caused by tigers	Deaths caused by leopards	Deaths caused by other wild animals	Total
2019-20	13	2	Nil	77	92
2020-21	27	1	Nil	60	88
2021-22	35	1	Nil	78	114
2022-23	27	1	Nil	70	98
2023-24	12	1	Nil	71	94

The Ministry has enhanced the amount of ex-gratia relief in case of death or permanent incapacitation due to wild animal attacks during December 2023. At present the amount of ex-gratia relief payable under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes – ‘Development of Wildlife Habitats’, ‘Project Tiger and Elephant’ is as follows:

Sl.	Nature of damage caused by wild animals	Amount of ex-gratia relief
i.	Death or permanent incapacitation	Rs.10.00 lakh
ii.	Grievous injury	Rs.2.00 lakh
iii.	Minor injury	Cost of treatment up to Rs.25,000/-per person
iv.	Loss of property/crops	State/UT government may adhere to the cost norms prescribed by them.

The protection and management of wildlife is primarily the responsibility of State Governments/UT    Administrations. The Ministry provides financial assistance to States/UTs for conservation of wildlife and its habitats under the Centrally Sponsored schemes – ‘Development of Wildlife Habitats’, ‘Project Tiger and Elephant’. It includes payment of ex-gratia relief for loss of life and property caused by wild animals.

An advisory to deal with human wildlife conflict situations was issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change to all States/UTs on 06.02.2021. The advisory recommends coordinated interdepartmental action, identification of conflict hot spots, adherence to Standard Operating Procedures, establishment of rapid response teams, formation of State and District level committees to review the quantum of ex-gratia relief, issuing guidance and instructions for expedited payments, and provision of adequate funds for ex-gratia relief to be paid to the affected persons in the case of death and injury to persons.

The Ministry has also issued guidelines to States and UTs on 03.06.2022 on managing human-wildlife conflict including damage to crops. The guidelines also advise States and UTs to consider utilizing the provisions of Disaster Management Act, 2005 to deal with situation arising out of human wildlife conflict such as rescue and relief operations, providing ex-gratia relief, management of law and order situation etc.

Further, the Ministry has released species specific guidelines on 21.03.2023 for mitigation of conflicts arising from various wild animals namely Elephant, Gaur, Leopard, Snake, Crocodile, Rhesus Macaque, Wild Pig, Bear, Blue Bull and Blackbuck. Guidelines were also issued for cross cutting issues such as cooperation between the forest and media sector; occupational health and safety in the context of human–wildlife conflict mitigation; crowd management in human-wildlife conflict related situations and addressing health emergencies and potential health risks arising out of human-wildlife conflict situations.

The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 has been recently amended in 2022 which rationalized listings of wild animals in Schedules I and II appended to the Act. Presently, the Ministry does not have any proposal to include more wild animals in Schedule I appended to the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.

The Central Government has enhanced the ex-gratia relief payable under the Centrally Sponsored Schemes – ‘Development of Wildlife Habitats’, ‘Project Tiger and Elephant’ from Rs. 5.00 Lakhs to Rs. 10.00 lakhs in case of deaths due to wild animal attacks during December 2023.

This information was given by Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Kirti Vardhan Singh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

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MJPS

Annexure- I

Number of Human Deaths caused by elephant
S.No.	State	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24
1	Andhra Pradesh	4	6	NR	5	6
2	Arunachal Pradesh	0	0	2	0	0
3	Assam	75	91	63	80	74
4	Chhattisgarh	77	42	64	69	51
5	Jharkhand	84	74	133	96	87
6	Karnataka	30	26	27	29	48
7	Maharashtra	1	NR	0	2	5
8	Meghalaya	4	6	3	3	7
9	Nagaland	0	0	0	1	1
10	Odisha	117	93	112	148	154
11	Tamil Nadu	58	57	37	43	61
12	Tripura	2	1	2	2	1
13	Uttar Pradesh	6	1	0	4	4
14	Uttarakhand	NR	NR	NR	4	8
15	West Bengal	116	47	77	97	99
Total		574	444	520	583	606

*  NR- Information not received from State.

*  Data also include human deaths outside Forest Area.

Annexure- II

Number of Human Deaths caused by the Tiger Attack

S. No.	State	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
1	Andhra Pradesh	0	0	0	0	NR
2	Arunachal Pradesh	0	0	0	0	NR
3	Assam	0	0	0	0	NR
4	Bihar	0	1	4	9	NR
5	Chhattisgarh	0	0	0	0	3
6	Jharkhand	0	0	0	0	NR
7	Karnataka	4	0	1	1	8
8	Madhya Pradesh	1	11	2	3	10
9	Maharashtra	26	25	32	82	35
10	Mizoram	0	0	0	0	NR
11	Orissa	0	0	0	0	NR
12	Rajasthan	5	0	0	0	NR
13	Tamil Nadu	0	1	3	0	1
14	Telangana	0	2	0	0	NR
15	Uttar Pradesh	8	4	11	11	25
16	Uttarakhand	2	0	1	3	NR
17	West Bengal	3	5	5	1	NR
TOTAL		49	49	59	110	82

NR- Information not received from State.