KOLKATA: Unable to manage the jackal menace any more, the airport authorities have knocked on the door of the state forest department, requesting them to deploy shooters so that the animals can be tranquillized at sight and taken away.At the last meeting of Airfield Environment Management Committee two weeks ago, the airport director sought permission from the forest department to use tranquilizers on the animals. The forest department has accepted the proposal and put shooters on standby at their Salt Lake office who will be able to rush to the airport whenever the authorities would call them. “We have tried every means, from setting up traps to plugging the gaps in the walls. But nothing has worked. The jackals proved to be too cunning for us and dodged the traps at ease. We had to take the help of the forest department to tranquilize the animals and take them off the premises,” said Atul Dikshit, Kolkata airport director. The biggest attraction for the animals is apparently the abundance of leftovers from flights dumped on the airport ground.A protected species under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, jackals cannot be killed on any account; they can be caught and rehabilitated in forests, at best. “We have responded to their plea. We cannot keep our men stationed at the airport. But whenever they need help, we will send our personnel with tranquillizers and guns from our Salt Lake unit,” said Ravi Kant Sinha, state’s chief wildlife warden.The jackal population on the airport premises has been pegged at around 100. This despite at least 200 jackals being captured by the forest department in the past six years. Since earlier this year, the Airports Authority of India AAI ) has set up two dozen cages, but to no avail. Cameras installed near the traps showed images of the animals sizing up the traps and carefully avoiding them.A forest department official said that since 2013, they had been helping the AAI tame the animals and had captured 200 jackals in the past six years. But, the official made it clear, the animals could not be kept at bay unless the airport authorities plugged all the gaps a little more wisely. “They have been using barbed wire fences but they need to understand that jackals dig burrows under the walls and sneak into the airport. They also use open drains as a safe passage,” said the official.Getting the animals off the airfield is critical for flight safety as stray jackals on the runway can force suspension of operations. A collision between a jackal and an aircraft, usually at over 100kmph while landing or taking off, can spell disaster. The complex is also home to mongooses, but the authorities said they were not a major threat as they usually stay away from runways.

Stay updated with all the Kolkata Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.