Lack of licensed shooters fuels wild boar surge in Kozhikode

Wild boar numbers are rising in Kozhikode’s upland villages as a shortage of licensed shooters stalls legal culling operations. Farmers say the district administration has not approved additional gun licences or formed new local shooter panels, leaving panchayats to wait weeks for shooters to arrive. Panchayat heads also complain of inadequate funds to pay the ₹3,500 fee required to hire a shooter for each boar, a burden highlighted by Kodenchery grama panchayat president Annakkutty Devassia. Koodaranhi authorities add that shooters cannot move across panchayat borders once they have permission from a single body, further slowing culling drives. The process is also tangled in legal and procedural hurdles involving several departments, and some shooters are dissatisfied with the pay and the mandated legal disposal of carcasses. Farmers’ groups, led by Kerala Karshaka Union general secretary Johnson Kulathingal, urge the state to issue more licences and set up a district‑level shooter panel to ease the crisis. An empanelled shooter notes that fewer than 180 licence holders remain in the district, with many awaiting renewal denied after election‑related gun surrender orders. Revenue department officials say new licences require strict screening and that a district panel cannot be created without a formal state government order.

Context

The wild boar issue reflects broader challenges in rural wildlife management where limited authorised personnel and bureaucratic rules can delay rapid response, increasing crop damage and farmer distress.