The forests in Wayanad, a district with the highest forest cover in the state, are inadvertently paying the price for the Malayali’s love for beef. Thousands of bovines are turned loose into the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) and other forests daily by the fast mushrooming commercial buffalo farms. The farms are conveniently located in the forest fringes to ensure that the feeding costs are negligible. Environmentalists say the severe grazing pressure exerted on the forests by the swelling herds is leading to the degeneration of the forest vegetation and this would in turn lead to more cases of mananimal conflicts. The estimated 25,000 livestock that are chewing up the WWS vegetation alone are forcing the herbivorous wildlife to come into human habitations in search of food. The Bangalore-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is now conducting a survey in the villages around WWS to study the impact of unrestricted cattle grazing on the forests. Wayanad wildlife warden Roy P Thomas said that as such there are over 17,000 cattle permanently located in the 107 settlements within the sanctuary . “The issue can be resolved only once the step by step relocation of such villages, currently being undertaken, is completed,“ he said. Wayanad Prakruthi Samrakshana Samithi president N Badusha said that mushrooming of buffalo farms is causing large scale land degradation, decimation of grass lands and compaction of soil inside the forests. “Earlier, only the people in the tribal hamlets and local villages used to rear cattle for domestic use. Now, 90% of the cattle that are being reared here are for commercial purposes. Entrepreneurs and farmers are illegally exploiting the natural grazing area in the forests,” he said. Badusha said that apart from the several small scale farms that have sprouted near forests, many firms are providing hundreds of buffalos to locals under guaranteed buy back arrangement. Also, agents are supplying buffalo calves brought from Andhra Pradesh to farmers at Rs 4,000 each. They are brought back one-and-ahalf years later at over Rs 25,000, making it a money-spinning business. He added that locally reared grass-fed buffalos are in high demand for slaughter during Eid Al Adha. There were around 4,000 wildlife incidents-related compensation claims filed in Wayanad in 2012-13 alone. Assistant wildlife warden Ajith K Raman said that though grazing inside the sanctuary and protected areas is prohibited, strict enforcement is not possible as it will have several social ramifications. “The spurt in cattle farming, apart from creating grazing competition for wildlife and hindering regeneration of forests through destruction of tree saplings, also poses the threat of wildlife contacting diseases from cattle. The forest department is arranging for regular vaccination drives for domestic animals in fringe villages to contain the threat,” he said. Kerala is one of the major beef consuming states in the country with around 15 lakh heads of cattle reaching the state from outside every year. AHD director N N Sasi said that rearing of buffalos for beef has been showing an uptrend in select areas of the state. “The business is lucrative in areas where there is plenty of grass and pastures,” he said.