Target: A.K. Saseendran, Minister for Forests and Wildlife, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Goal: Immediately suspend widespread wild-boar culling, replace it with humane conflict-prevention measures, and mandate transparent review with strict limits on any lethal action.
Kerala authorities authorized local bodies to eliminate thousands of wild boars after conflict incidents rose near forest-fringe communities. By mid-2025, official replies and reports indicate that 4,700-plus animals had been killed under this scheme. Local leaders were named honorary wildlife wardens to approve kills, while hired shooters carried out operations. The scale suggests an ongoing program that may risk indiscriminate outcomes and avoidable suffering.
Critics warn that broad culling can be counterproductive. Disrupted sounders may breed faster, young animals can be orphaned, and shooting near fields or homesteads can endanger people and livestock. Residents still endure crop losses, injury risk, and fear, which implies that mass killing alone does not resolve the root causes of conflict. Humane, evidence-based tools exist, yet they are reportedly underused.
A course correction is urgently needed. Humane deterrence, better waste management, fencing assistance, early-warning systems, rapid compensation, and targeted translocation can reduce harm without routine killing. Lethal force, if any, must be a last resort that meets strict legal thresholds with independent oversight. This petition calls for an immediate suspension of mass culling, a public audit of decisions already taken, and a binding plan that prioritizes non-lethal methods and transparent, case-by-case reviews before any lethal clearance.
PETITION LETTER:
Minister Saseendran,
We are deeply concerned by reports that thousands of wild boars have been eliminated under a decentralized culling framework. Local officials were empowered to approve lethal action, with hired shooters implementing decisions at scale. Such measures may produce avoidable suffering, public-safety risks, and limited long-term relief for affected communities.
We respectfully urge you to suspend the current culling approach and direct the department to implement humane, evidence-based conflict mitigation. This should include fencing and crop-protection support, waste-management reforms that reduce attractants, rapid compensation, community hotlines, and trained response teams for non-lethal hazing and targeted translocation. Where lethal action is considered, we ask for strict, documented thresholds, independent oversight, and explicit bans on shooting near dwellings or at lactating sows, with mandatory ballistic and incident reporting.
We further request a transparent audit of past approvals and outcomes, public release of data on locations and numbers, and a revised protocol that treats lethal force as a last resort only after capture, tranquillisation, or relocation are documented as unworkable in the specific case. Adopting these steps will protect people, reduce crop loss, and avoid routine killing that fails to solve the underlying conflict.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Evelyn Simak
