Nilgai declared as Vermin

Environment and Ecology Biodiversity

The environment ministry has declared Nilgai as vermin in state of Bihar.
By declaring any animal as vermin will allow state authorities to carry out an extermination of nilgai on a large scale without attracting penal provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
This exercise of the powers conferred by section 62 of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
The Bihar government had asked the Centre to allow professional shooters accredited by the Centre to kill nilgai because acres of crops were being destroyed in areas where they exist in large numbers and regularly stray onto farms growing crops like wheat and pulses.

Legal provisions

Section 11(1)a of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) authorizes chief wildlife warden to permit hunting of any problem wild animal only if it cannot be captured, tranquillized or translocated.
For wild animals in Schedule II, III or IV, chief wildlife warden or authorized officers can permit their hunting in a specified area if they have become dangerous to humans or property (including standing crops on any land).
Section 62 of Act empowers Centre to declare wild animals other than Schedule I & II to be vermin for specified area and period.

About Nilgai:

Nilgai, also called bluebuck, the largest Asian antelope (family Bovidae). The nilgai is indigenous to the Indian subcontinent.
It is the only one of the four Indian antelopes that is still abundant.
It is the largest of all Asian antelopes and is one of the most commonly seen wild animals in all of India.
The nilgai is categorised as Least Concern by the IUCN.
As for habitat, the large antelope prefer to live in grasslands and woodlands, avoiding dense forests in favor of plains and low hills covered in shrubs.
Most of the world's nilgai can be found in India, anywhere from the area around the base of the Himalayas, from Pakistan to the Bay of Bengal.

Analysis:

The killing of wildlife causes tremendous suffering and opens the door to the illegal wildlife trade, but does nothing toward providing genuine long-term help for farmers or others facing conflict.
Shooting animals fails to address the root cause of the matter, which is forests being torn down, and humans encroaching into animals’ homes, leaving animals with almost nowhere but human habitats to go and to venture into in search of food, and because when some wildlife are killed, other animals quickly fill the void left behind
It is the duty of every Indian citizen under Article 51A (G) of our nation’s constitution to protect wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures. To save our tigers and other wildlife before it’s too late, town and project planning must include forest protection, and solutions must be found to conflict by engaging with farmers, animal protection experts and scientists in implementing humane, real solutions such as adequate fencing, noisemakers, and repelling animals naturally from farms through the use of chili plants or other such means. In Africa, for example, the planting of chili plants around crops was found to be successful in addressing conflict with elephants.
In contrast, when animals are hunted, some will be shot several times causing tremendous pain, but many others escape with one gunshot or flesh wound, and die later slowly and in unimaginable agony from blood loss, gangrene, starvation or dehydration.

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