Kerala is a tiny state with a unique topography and fragile ecosystem. This fragile constitution supports a dense and growing population which presses upon all available resources to fulfil its need. This sets in motion the simple economical principles of demand and stress. Land is in particular an extremely limited resource. A growing population inevitably puts this resource to stress. Let us put these variables into statistics and translate them into real life implications. The population of Kerala grew from 3,18,41,374[1] in 2001 to 3,55,62,000[2] in 2023. In the meanwhile, in 2023, Kerala lost 9.60 kilo hectare of natural forest from the 2 million hectares of natural forest land it had in 2010. From 2002 to 2023, Kerala lost 3.93 kha of humid primary forest, making up 4.1 per cent of its total tree cover loss in the same time period. The total area of humid primary forest in Kerala went down by 0.75 per cent in this time period.The top 5 regions were responsible for 53% of all tree cover loss between 2001 and 2024. Idukki had the most tree cover loss at 15 kha compared to an average of 7.6 kha.[3]
These numbers also unsurprisingly, align with the rising human – wild life conflicts being reported in the State with a total of 486 reported deaths between 2019-2024.[4]
Apart from human deaths and injuries, large crop losses are reported in Kerala every year due to attacks of wild boar, porcupine, elephants, gaur, monkeys, wild pigs and deer. About 45 species of edible and commercial plants are regularly destroyed by wild animals in the State. These plants include paddy, coconut, arecanut, rubber, banana, plantain, tapioca, sweet potato, coffee, oil palm, pepper, cardamom, ginger, jackfruit, mulberry, mango, and pineapple Elephants are also purported to cause considerable damage to physical property, such as cow sheds, irrigation structures, and huts[5].
In this context, it is worthwhile to look into the Report submitted by the working group on addressing issues related to human-wildlife interactions in Kerala as part of the 14th Five Year plan.The report projected the total financial budget requirement for the implementation of its proposal for 10 years as Rs.1150.00 Crore.
The 2025 budget in its credit allocated ₹70.40 crore for mitigation efforts along with an additional ₹50 crore set aside as a special package, over and above the regular Plan allocation, to curb wildlife attacks and safeguard forest communities. However, it still failed to regulate anthropogenic activities in order to reduce the cause of conflict and assumed a compensatory stance. It is imperative to understand and acknowledge the fact that anthropogenic activities also need to undergo scrutiny in order to arrive at a suitable mitigation plan. Mere trial and error plans significantly affect local interactions with wildlife often resulting in disregard for wildlife conservation. Thus, there is a need to arrive at suitable infrastructural, social and policy changes for peaceful co-habitation.
[1] Office of the Registrar Gen. & Census Comm’r, India, Census of India 2001 (2001), https://censusindia.gov.in.
[2] TDep’t of Econ. & Stat., Gov’t of Kerala, Annual Vital Statistics Report 2023 (May 22, 2025), https://www.ecostat.kerala.gov.in.
[3] Global Forest Watch, India Dashboard, https://www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards/country/IND/17/ (last visited Apr. 8, 2026).
[4] Press Info. Bureau, Gov’t of India, Press Release, https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2035046®=3&lang=2 (last visited Apr. 8, 2026).
[5] Kuttoor Radhakrishnan, Public Policy and Human-Animal Conflicts: Elephant Deaths in Kerala, Rev. Agrarian Stud., https://ras.org.in/articles/268/text/article.html (last visited Apr. 8, 2026).
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