Maneka Gandhi, Prakash Javadekar Lock Horns Over Animal Culling

Maneka claims the govt has allowed the culling of animals against the wishes of state wildlife departments.

• Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has slammed the Environment Ministry under Prakash Javdekar for allowing culling of wild animals. This has come after the recent killing of a nilgai in Bihar.
  
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• Gandhi, an animal right activist, has alleged that the Union Environment Ministry is writing to every state government asking them to provide a list of animals that can be culled so that the centre can give them the go ahead.
  
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• Javdekar however claims that this was a “scientific management” of the animal population and only animals categorized as vermin were allowed to be culled for at specific times in specific areas. He also said that some states had requested it for crop protection.
  
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• Maneka claims the center has allowed the killing of nilgais in Bihar, elephants in West Bengal, monkeys in Himachal Pradesh, peacocks in Goa and wild boars in Chandrapur even though wildlife departments in their respective states do not wish it.
  
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(With PTI inputs.)