Thiruvananthapuram | The Congress-led UDF, the BJP, and certain organisations are competing to win the confidence of people in Kerala's high-range areas, but their opportunistic politics is causing more harm than wild animals straying into human habitats, Kerala Forest Minister A K Saseendran has said.

In an interview to PTI, Saseendran said the issue of human-animal conflict has been brought into the main focus of the government by the latest state budget, and a slew of programmes has been designed to find a permanent solution to the problem.

"The solution cannot be achieved in a day or two. But we must wait a little longer to address this issue, and for the first time, the state budget has recognised it as a major public concern and allocated funds for its mitigation," Saseendran said.

He said that the "opportunistic political games" played by the opposition parties are adversely affecting the prospects of the districts.

"If they propagate the idea that it is unsafe to go out in Wayanad, a district that thrives on tourism, the people of Wayanad will suffer badly. This is not an issue for political gains; what we need is a cooperative effort to resolve it," the minister said.

His remarks come amid widespread protest in the forest border areas in Kerala's hill district against the government's alleged inaction over growing incidents of human-wildlife conflict.

Reiterating his earlier statement made in the Assembly, Saseendran said deaths from wild animal attacks have decreased from 2011 to the present. However, he added that cases of injuries from wild animal attacks have increased.

"It shows that the forest department, working under several constraints and legal limitations, has utilised all the resources it has, and made efforts to achieve these results." Out of the 914 deaths reported in recent times, 514 were due to snake bite, and there were also fatalities caused by hornet attacks, which cannot ideally be classified as wild animal attacks.

"To further reduce this death toll, we need to decrease snake poisoning cases. The Kerala government is now launching a programme aimed at achieving zero deaths from snake poisoning by ensuring the timely availability of anti-venom," Saseendran said.

He said that the government is listing hospitals where antivenom is available through the 'Sarpa App' and is also launching a programme to ensure its availability in all family health centres.

"The problem now is that we have not been able to take all snakebite victims to a hospital where antivenom is available, as the common man had no way of knowing which hospital had stock. The Sarpa App will now provide that information." "Moreover, I have also suggested a programme to produce our own antivenom from the snakes we catch, and the Chief Minister has, in principle, agreed to it," Saseendran said.

He said the chemical composition of venom in snakes found in our area differs from that of snakes in the Nilgiri region, and the antivenom produced from locally found snakes could be more effective for snakebite victims in this area.

Asserting the government's commitment to resolving the human-animal conflict, he said a programme called 'Mission Food, Fodder and Water' has been launched to ensure the availability of food and water for wildlife in forest areas.

"Several experts have written articles on human-animal conflict, but none has been able to pinpoint a single reason for animals straying out and attacking people anywhere in India. This suggests that multiple factors contribute to the issue," Saseendran said.

Like the changes occurring in the general ecosystem, the forest ecosystem has also undergone transformations due to the effects of climate change.

"There is a common saying that animals and birds detect changes in nature ahead of humans and react accordingly. So, they too are suffering more due to climate change and changes in forest quality," Saseendran said.

However, he stated that the 1972 Wildlife Protection Act needs to be amended, and animals proven to be a threat to humans should be culled.

"We have met the Union Minister for Forests five times and handed over the resolution unanimously passed by the Kerala Assembly, demanding approval for a Rs 620 crore project designed by the Kerala government to strengthen the forest force and an amendment to the 1972 Act. However, the Union government is still not ready to accept our demand," Saseendran said.

He said that within the next five years, all hotspots in Kerala where frequent cases of human-animal conflict are reported will have remedial measures in place, such as hanging solar fencing.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has agreed to find a solution to compensate farmers who suffer crop losses due to wild animal attacks.