Will Goa press to declare National Bird and State Animal as vermin?
GOANEWS DESK, PANAJI | 12 February 2016 20:29 IST
After Goa’s state animal Gaur (Bison), will Goa government now also recommend to declare Peacock, the national bird, as a vermin?
“Not exactly”, says Agriculture Minister Ramesh Tawadkar, but does not deny that peacocks have become nuisance to the farmers in some pockets of Goa.
He also confirmed that the major nuisances to Goa’s farmers today are monkey, wild boar and bison.
Goa government is in process of preparing a list of recommending animals and birds to be declared as vermin.
As per the centrally regulated Wild Life Animals Protection Act 1972, animals listed in Schedule V are vermin, who threaten human society by spreading diseases or destroying crops and livestock.
Once declared vermin, these animals can be hunted or culled without restriction, for a limited period.
After Narendra Modi government came to power, the Ministry of Environment and Forest has sent an advisory to all the states to suggest such nuisance animals in order to declare them as vermin.
Tawadkar said the department officials are in process of getting information in this regard while farmers are also coming forward with complaints about certain animals that destroy their crops.
Bison is one among them, who is declared as State Animal of Goa and FC Goa, the state football team of Goa, has also taken Gaur as its symbol for the Indian Super League.
Peacock, on the other hand, is India’s national bird.
“We have received complaints from Mayem, Canacona and Sanguem that peacocks have been destroying their crops”, Tawadkar told goanews.com.
Monkey has become a double nuisance now with the monkey fever hitting the whole Sattari taluka, resulting into spreading Kyasanur Forest Disease affecting the locals.
The Ministry of Environment and Forest however has already rejected the recommendation of Madhya Pradesh government to declare monkey as vermin.
