Nepal designates wild boar as pest, allowing farmers to cull them

Kathmandu (ANTARA) - The government of Nepal has designated wild boars, excluding smaller species, as “wildlife pests” for one year, allowing farmers to drive away, capture, or even kill them without prior permission from government authorities.

The Ministry of Forests and Environment of Nepal stated in a statement on Tuesday (February 24) that the designation was made in light of the damage caused by the animals to farmers’ crops, using the authority granted under Section 36 of the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1973.

Previously, on February 12, the ministry also included rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) in the same list, as farmers continue to experience significant crop losses due to wildlife.

According to the statement, farmers are now allowed, without prior permission, to drive away, repel, capture, or even kill wild boars (excluding smaller species) that enter and damage their fields or private gardens. The decision is valid for one year from the date of publication in the Nepal Gazette.

The decision by Nepal was made as wildlife such as wild boars and monkeys increasingly enter agricultural land, causing severe crop losses and forcing many farmers to stop farming.

Amidst increasing migration from rural to urban areas and the growing number of abandoned agricultural lands, forest cover is expanding, leading to increased interaction between humans and wildlife, with monkeys and wild boars entering agricultural land and damaging crops.

In some cases, wild boars have also attacked humans and occasionally caused fatalities.

Farmers in the hilly and Tarai regions have long complained that wild boars have been damaging their crops for years. This government decision is expected to provide some relief to affected farmers.