Recent human fatalities due to wild animal attacks, deep inside forests, in forest-fringed human habitations, and even within villages, have highlighted growing human-wildlife conflict in Kerala, where nearly 29% of the land is forested. With a dry spell and an unusually hot summer expected, urgent measures are needed to prevent further escalation of this conflict, which now has political, social, and environmental dimensions. The Kerala government is facing criticism for its perceived inability to manage wildlife. Groups such as the Kerala Independent Farmers’ Association (KIFA) and sections of the church advocate for culling wildlife, citing an alleged population boom. However, Forest Department data suggest otherwise. The wild elephant population, linked to 18% of human fatalities, has declined by 7%. Snakebites, responsible for 75% of wildlife-related deaths, have fallen from 113 in 2012 to 34 in 2023. Overall, human deaths from wildlife encounters have decreased from 146 in 2018 to 57 last year. Yet, this is no cause for complacency. A concerning trend is that many victims are from tribal communities, traditionally adept at coexisting with wildlife. The government should investigate this as part of its newly announced mission to document and assess the traditional knowledge of Kerala’s 36 tribal communities in tackling wildlife encounters.

There are also several anthropogenic factors. Habitat fragmentation, particularly in elephant corridors such as Aralam Farm (Kannur) and Chinnakkanal (Idukki), has forced animals into human settlements. Unregulated tourism, cattle grazing near forests, encroachments, and food waste dumping on forest fringes further exacerbate the issue. Invasive plants (Senna spectabilis) and monoculture industrial plantations have also disrupted wildlife feeding patterns. In response, the Kerala government, in 2022, empowered local bodies to eliminate feral wild boars damaging farmland. Last year, the Cabinet classified human-wildlife conflict as a State-specific disaster, allowing the Disaster Management Authority to intervene. The government’s decision to emphasise participatory forest and wildlife management is a step in the right direction, given the extreme views propagated by some sections. The Forest Department has restored 5,031 hectares of natural forest and built ponds and check dams. However, restoring areas dominated by industrial plantations such as eucalyptus and acacia is a challenge. While solar fencing has shown some success, the ₹52-crore elephant-proof wall at Aralam, one of 12 conflict landscapes, remains incomplete. The State’s 10 missions to mitigate human-wildlife conflict must be prioritised. Given the region-specific nature of the problem, a multi-agency approach involving the Disaster Management, Revenue, Local Self-Government, Tribal Welfare, Agriculture, Health and Forest Departments is crucial to balancing human safety and sustainable wildlife management.