CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -Taking a cue from the Uttar Pradesh Government, the Center is set to bring man-animal conflict under the ambit of “disaster” category as is being done for the cases of fire and floods. The idea is to ensure early resolutions of such incidents in a coordinated manner at the district level across the country.

Detailed explanation-2: -Human-Wildlife Conflict refers to the negative interaction between humans and wildlife that result in losses in terms of life, property or resources. Due to an expanding human population, it is almost inevitable that humans will encroach into the natural habitats of the animal kingdom.

Detailed explanation-3: -Human-wildlife conflicts are becoming more frequent, serious and widespread because of human population growth, agricultural expansion, infrastructure development, climate change and other drivers of habitat loss.

Detailed explanation-4: -Related Data: Among human casualties of conflict with animals, elephants killed 1, 579 humans in three years-585 in 2019-20, 461 in 2020-21, and 533 in 2021-22. Odisha topped the number of deaths with 332, followed by Jharkhand with 291, and West Bengal with 240.

Detailed explanation-5: -One big challenge is the destruction of animal habitats due to encroachment of forest land, which is engendering man-animal conflicts, revenge killing of carnivore animals and poaching. Another challenge is roadkill, resulting in the deaths of many small wildlife animals.