T’puram: In a first in India, Kerala cabinet Saturday cleared a draft bill to amend Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, authorising the chief wildlife warden to order the killing of any wild animal that attacks and injures a person in a residential area.The move comes amid a series of reports of man-animal conflicts in recent months. “The central govt and National Tiger Conservation Authority issued an SOP on Jan 30, 2013, detailing how to handle tigers that enter human habitats. Guidelines for handling elephants are also in place. These impractical provisions in the central law and the SOP act as obstacles to killing dangerous wild animals even in emergency situations. This is why the state govt has introduced the amendment bill,” forest minister A K Saseendran said.

The bill also allows the regulation of animal populations listed in Schedule II of the Act and their relocation to other areas, without requiring central govt approval.