Ban on feeding animals in sanctuaries to prevent spread

Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Patiala, April 28

The state Wildlife Department has put a blanket ban feeding wild animals by anyone, except for department officials. It has asked all divisional forest officials to arrange food for wild animals along with enough water, so that they do not stray out of the protected area and “get the virus from eatables provided by nearby residents”.

To ensure that animals such as blue bull, black buck, wild boar, rhesus macaques, python, pangolin, barking deer, red jungle fowl, kalij pheasant, porcupine, hedge hog and sambar don’t go hungry, the department has started arranging food for them inside ‘birs’ (sanctuaries). It has already started feeding monkeys and other animals on veggies and fruit.

The department has another worry and that is the spread of the virus among animals as a few people are still seen feeding animals near the fencing of birs. In recent cases, monkeys and jungle cats were seen near human settlements as they could get out of the fencing using trees.

A Covid-positive person can be a threat to the wildlife inside the birs, says Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Kuldip Kumar. “Already some cases in the cat family have been reported across the world, and we have many leopards straying into Punjab. Thus, we cannot take any chances,” he said.

The state has declared 35,040.20 hectares across the state as a protected area. This includes 12 birs. To stop human activity around the birs, the department has said it would conduct round-the-clock patrolling.

“I have directed the divisional forest officers to ensure no human activity around the 12 birs of the state,” Kuldip Kumar said. Less human activity has led to monkeys venturing out of the birs in search of food. “As not many people are coming out to feed them, monkeys can be seen venturing out of the birs, posing a threat to villagers and even city residents,” said wildlife expert Jaskaran Sandhu, who is also a member of the Punjab Wildlife Protection Board.