Goa BJP not in favour of comments on peacock and bison

While the peacock is the national bird, the bison, also known as the Gaur, is the state animal of Goa.

An Indian state has proposed reclassifying the country’s national bird – the peacock – as vermin, local media report. “If Goa wants to remain on the tourist map, people expect it to be a paradise for animals too”.

Goa’s Agriculture Minister Ramesh Tawadkar said peacocks were damaging crops and could be culled. “The data collected by the forest department will be sent to the state wildlife board from where it will be sent to the national wildlife board, following which an appropriate decision will be taken”, Arlekar said adding that the government was also exploring the provision of giving wild life wardens certain powers aimed at eliminating wild life menace.

Speaking to The Pioneer, Tawadkar, who hails from the hilly and agrarian constituency of Canacona, in South Goa, said, “Some farmers have told us that peacocks also were damaging their crops in hilly forest areas”. Goa Pradesh Congress Committee president Luizinho Faleiro described the thinking ridiculous and called the move “suicidal” as it would lead to environmental damage.

The state’s legislature courted controversy not so long ago after it removed coconut trees from a list of protected trees – categorizing them as “palms” instead.

Peacocks in India are birds loaded with symbolism and, for centuries, images of the creatures have adorned works of devotional and courtly art. Monkeys and wild boar regularly destroy fields.

In the last assembly, the government said that the wild boars, monkey as well as other wild animals that disrupt the agriculture and horticultural activity and destroy the crops will soon be classified as vermin.

Rapid urbanisation and encroachment in forested areas has in turn triggered a series of instances of human-wild animal conflicts in Goa in recent times.