Aim for vermin only on your land, farmers with licensed firearms told

 

Wild boars are not only causing damage to farms but also road accidents in the interior parts of Perak.

KUALA KANGSAR: Farmers who have firearms licences are allowed to use them only for vermin control and to prevent damage to their crops, but it must be done within the boundaries of their properties, Perak police have clarified.

Responding to complaints from padi, fruit and vegetable farmers that the wild boar population had increased to a menacing level since hunting licences were suspended two years ago, Perak police chief Mior Faridalathrash Wahid said they could not use their firearms to hunt outside the permitted boundaries.

“The vermin must be wild animals that are harmful to their crops within their properties. It is clearly against the law to use their firearms to deal with vermin outside their boundaries,” he told FMT.

“Therefore, there is no issue regarding firearms use to prevent damage or destruction by vermin. This is clearly stipulated in the licensing conditions. Firearms licences for farmers are never issued for recreational hunting.”

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Mior Faridalathrash said apart from farmers, departments dealing with wildlife control, such as the wildlife, veterinary and local governments, had been provided with firearms licences to assist farmers, ranchers and gardeners to control vermin.

He reminded those with firearms licences not to use them to hunt or to control vermin on properties that do not belong to them.

On Sunday, farmers in Perak claimed that the population of wild boars had increased with hunters not being allowed to shoot them, and that the animals were also causing road accidents in the interior.

They claimed that they had been suffering heavy losses caused by damage to their properties.

When told of the police’s reply, padi farmer Badaruddin Ghazalan, who suffered huge losses, said not all farmers could afford to own firearms.

“We have been depending on those with hunting licences to help us get rid of the wild animals before they attack our farms. This is surely going to make our lives difficult,” he told FMT.

Last week, Mior Faridalathrash issued a directive to district police chiefs to continue the suspension of hunting licences, introduced in 2020 to prevent illegal hunting and misuse.

“Applications for hunting licences would not be accepted until further notice,” he said in the directive. - FMT