Compensation for Cattle Injury Caused by Forest Animals

What is cattle injury relief in Madhya Pradesh?

Compensation for Cattle Injury Caused by Forest Animals is a relief payment made by the Forest Department, Government of Madhya Pradesh, to the owner of a domestic animal that is injured but not killed in a wild animal attack. It is the companion service to the department's animal loss relief, and it is listed separately in the department's public service guarantee entries as animal injury relief.

The distinction matters in practice. A tiger or leopard attack on a grazing herd often leaves survivors with deep wounds, and the owner is then facing veterinary bills for an animal that may or may not recover its working or milking capacity. Relief under this head is meant to cover exactly that gap: immediate cash at the time of the incident, reimbursement of treatment, and a larger amount where the animal is left permanently disabled.

What the relief is designed to do

• Get money into the owner's hands fast enough that treatment actually starts.
• Reimburse the veterinary cost of saving the animal rather than only paying out after it dies.
• Recognise permanent loss of productive capacity, which for a working bullock or a milch cow can be as costly as the animal's death.
• Reduce retaliation against predators in the villages around Madhya Pradesh's tiger reserves and sanctuaries.

Who is eligible for cattle injury relief?

You can claim if:

• You are a resident of Madhya Pradesh and the incident happened within the state.
• The injured animal is your own domestic livestock; cow, bullock, buffalo, goat, sheep or similar.
• The injury was caused by a wild animal as understood under the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 to typically tiger, leopard, wolf, bear, hyena or wild dog.
• You informed the nearest forest officer within 48 hours of the incident.
• You can produce treatment bills and a certificate from a medical practitioner, the village head or a local body official confirming the injury.

You cannot claim, or are not eligible, if:

• The injury came from a farm accident, a fall, a road accident, a fight between domestic animals or a stray dog, none of these counts as a wild animal attack.
• The incident was reported after 48 hours without a reason the department accepts.
• No forest officer was able to verify the injured animal, because it had been moved far away or sold before inspection.
• The animal was grazing inside a prohibited area such as a national park or a core critical tiger habitat.
• Ownership of the animal cannot be established.
• The same injury has already been claimed by another member of the family.

How much relief is paid for an injured animal?

Relief under this head is paid in slabs rather than as a single figure. The Madhya Pradesh Forest Department issued a revised order for wildlife damage relief in February 2024, and the amounts widely reported for cattle injury under that order are:

These figures come from public scheme listings of the February 2024 order rather than from a gazette copy, so treat them as indicative. Confirm the slab in force on the date of your incident with the Divisional Forest Officer, because Madhya Pradesh has revised its human–wildlife conflict compensation rates more than once: the compensation for a human death in a wild animal attack, for example, was raised to Rs 25 lakh from Rs 8 lakh in November 2024.

Under the Madhya Pradesh Lok Seva Guarantee Adhiniyam, 2010, animal injury relief carries a time limit of 7 working days, in urban and rural areas alike. Animal loss relief, by contrast, allows the department 30 working days.

What documents are required?

How to apply for cattle injury compensation

1. Get the animal to a veterinary institution and start treatment, keeping every bill and prescription. Treatment comes first, paperwork second.
2. Inform the nearest forest officer within 48 hours, the beat guard, forester or range officer. Give it in writing and take a dated acknowledgement.
3. Let the forest staff see the injured animal and record the incident. Photographs of the wounds, dated, help where the animal recovers before the file is decided.
4. Collect the certificate from a medical practitioner, the village head or a local body official confirming that the animal was injured in a wild animal attack.
5. Fill the relief application at the range office, Lok Seva Kendra, CSC or MP Online kiosk, attaching the treatment bills, ownership proof, Aadhaar and bank passbook copy.
6. Submit and take the acknowledgement carrying the Lok Seva Guarantee registration number, and note the 7 working-day time limit.
7. Follow up and collect the payment in your bank account, keeping the sanction order for your records.

If permanent disability is being claimed, add the government medical certificate to the file rather than sending it later, a split submission is the usual cause of delay in these cases.

How do I check the status of an injury claim?

1. Quote the Lok Seva acknowledgement number at the kendra or kiosk where you filed and ask for the current stage.
2. Ask the range officer whether the verification and file have gone up for sanction.
3. Ask the Divisional Forest Officer's office whether the sanction has been issued and the payment released.

If the 7 working days lapse without a decision, use the appeal route under the Lok Seva Guarantee Act, which provides for compensation to the applicant and a penalty on the officer who missed the deadline.

Why cattle injury claims get rejected

• Reported after 48 hours, the single largest cause of rejection.
• No treatment bills, so there is nothing to reimburse against.
• Injury not attributed to a wild animal in the verification, for example a dog bite or an accident.
• No certificate from a medical practitioner, village head or local body official.
• Permanent disability claimed without a government medical certificate.
• Animal grazing in a prohibited area such as a national park core.
• Ownership not established; no ear-tag, no insurance, no panchayat certificate.

Help and grievance redressal

• Forest Department, Madhya Pradesh headquarters, Bhopal: 0755-2524000
• Official website: mpforest.gov.in
• Local route: beat guard, forester and range officer, then the Sub-Divisional Officer (Forest)
• Sanctioning authority: the Divisional Forest Officer or the Deputy Director of the tiger reserve or protected area
• Lok Seva Guarantee appeal: through your Lok Seva Kendra or mpedistrict.gov.in, quoting the acknowledgement number

Filing a wildlife damage relief claim costs nothing beyond the small notified charge at a Lok Seva Kendra or MP Online kiosk, and no official is entitled to a share of the relief.