Culling of Vermins

The Kerala Cabinet is exploring legal provisions to permit scientific and regulated culling of wild animals, especially feral boars. These animals, once classified as "vermin", lose wildlife protection under the Wildlife Protection Act.   Vermins are animals that pose risks to crops, livestock, or public safety. Examples include:       • Rats  • Mice  • Crows  • Fruit bats   Under the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972:       • Animals listed in Schedule V can be freely hunted.       • Section 62 allows the Centre to declare wild animals as vermin for a specific area and duration.   The Wildlife Protection (Amendment) Act, 2022 introduced key changes:       • Schedule V removed, reducing total schedules from 6 to 4.       • The Centre can directly declare species as vermin without old categorization.       • Such declarations are temporary and region-specific.   Past examples of vermin declarations:       • Wild boars – Uttarakhand       • Nilgai (blue bull) – Bihar       • Rhesus monkeys – Himachal Pradesh