Impacts of stray cattle on agriculture and wildlife

Source: The post impacts of stray cattle on agriculture and wildlife has been created, based on the article “Where animals are dying by a thousand cuts” published in “The Hindu” on 28th May 2024.

UPSC Syllabus Topic: GS Paper 3 -Environment- Men-Wildlife Conflict

Context: The article discusses the impact of stray cattle on agriculture and wildlife in Uttar Pradesh. It highlights the challenges farmers face, such as damaged crops and deadly fences, and the potential disease risks to wildlife. It also explores proposed solutions and political implications.

What are the impacts of stray cattle on agriculture and wildlife in Uttar Pradesh?

Crop Damage: Over a million stray cattle in Uttar Pradesh are decimating harvests, significantly impacting farm-based livelihoods. Farmers resort to installing harmful barriers like razor-wire and high-voltage electric fences to protect their crops.

Wildlife Disruption: In the biodiverse Terai areas, such as Pilibhit and Lakhimpur Kheri, stray cattle interfere with the natural habitats of endangered species including tigers and rhinoceros. The presence of cattle and the fences installed to deter them disrupt crucial wildlife corridors, hindering species’ movement and survival.

Disease Transmission: Stray cattle pose a risk of spreading diseases like bovine tuberculosis and lumpy skin disease to wildlife, with multiple recent cases of the latter reported in the Terai region.

What are the reasons behind Increasing Stray Cattle Population?

1) Religious beliefs have led to ban on use of certain cattle for Meat.

2) Buffaloes are preferred more as farm animals, over cows. High-yielding buffalo breeds, are so far exempt from bans on trade and slaughter

3) Cattle rearing has become costly due to the increasing cost of Inputs.

4) Communities that used to be pastoral once, have become agrarian over the decades.

What solutions do farmers suggest?

Building Cow Shelters: Farmers suggest constructing cow shelters to accommodate stray cattle. They propose these shelters could even be located within protected areas, offering a dual solution to manage stray cattle and potentially reduce crop raiding by other wildlife.

Government Responsibility: The sentiment among the farmers is that the government should take responsibility for the stray cattle. They believe that like crop-raiding wildlife, stray cattle should be managed by the government within its protected reserves.

Question for practice:

Discuss the impacts of stray cattle on agriculture, wildlife, and the political landscape in Uttar Pradesh.