In a verdict aimed at reserving the forests only for wild animals and preventing multiple threats faced by them owing to the entry of domestic cattle, the Madras High Court has directed the Forest Department not to allow any domesticated cattle to venture into the forest areas across Tamil Nadu for grazing.
Justices V. Bharathidasan and N. Sathish Kumar issued the direction while disposing of a public interest litigation petition filed by G. Thirumurugan alias Theeran Thirumurugan in 2020 to forbear the Forest Department from issuing permits for grazing of domesticated cattle inside the Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary in Theni district.
The judges took note of the submissions made by conservation biologist Priya Davidar, who had been appointed as amicus curiae to assist the court, that cattle density inside the forests negatively affected the density of wild herbivores such as deer, gaur and elephants owing to the competition for forage.
She said the fodder requirement of each cow or bull being 12 kg to 15 kg of biomass a day, the depletion of fodder in forest areas could reduce the densities of wild herbivores and consequently sustain fewer tigers. She also referred to widespread poisoning of tigers by cattle-grazers to protect their animals.
Further, it was reported that cattle transmitted diseases to wildlife and that spill-over infections such as anthrax, foot and mouth disease, lumpy skin diseases, tuberculosis and parasitic infection might cause epidemics, leading to a catastrophic decline of wild animals.
The amicus curiae brought it to the notice of the court that a cattle breed, known as ‘Malaimadu’, reportedly let into Megamalai for grazing in large numbers for about six months (April-June and October-December) every year, was not in the list of the registered cattle breeds of the country.
The court was told that illegal trespassing of cattle-herders into the Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary had resulted in 35 incidents of forest fire and that livestock grazing inside forests would cause degradation and soil loss and affect river flow. The expert suggested creation of fodder farms in the revenue land for the cattle to graze.
In his report, the Deputy Director of the Megamalai Forest Division said the owners of around 30,000 ‘Malaimadu’ had been rearing them for commercial purposes such as selling their dung but had been claiming a right to let the cattle for grazing inside the forests under the guise of promoting organic farming and rearing native breeds.
He said some cattle-grazers befriend poachers and become informants to them. By passing on information related to the movement of wild animals as well as that of forest officials, they help the poachers in committing wildlife offences and escaping from the clutches of law. Such an unholy nexus was detrimental to the forests.
In 2021, the Megamalai Wildlife Sanctuary and the Srivilliputtur Grizzled Gian Squirrel Sanctuary were together declared the Srivilliputtur-Megamalai Tiger Reserve. Thereafter, no cattle-rearer was given permission to take his domestic animals inside the forests for grazing, he added.
After recording their submissions, the judges extended the scope of the case and imposed a ban on taking domesticated cattle inside forest areas for grazing. Article 21 of the Constitution not only protects human rights but also the rights of other species. Protection of environment was an inseparable part of right to life, they said.
Unlike the wild animals, cattle could thrive on agricultural or farm-based diet and they were not exclusively dependent on forest-based fodder diet, the judges said and rejected the argument of cattle-rearers that they could not be denied their right to take their animals for grazing inside forest areas.
