‘The new forest laws changed the lives of forest dwellers. They could not hunt’. How?

The forest laws changed the lives of forest dwellers significantly.

1. Before the forest laws, many people who lived in or near the forests lived by hunting deer, partridges and a number of small animals.

2. The customary right of the forest dwellers was prohibited by the forests law. They were punished for poaching, if caught hunting.

3. Hunting of big game became a sport under colonial rule. Hunting increased so much, that various species became extinct. British believed large animals were a sign of primitive society and by killing dangerous animals they would civilise India. People were rewarded for killing tigers, wolves and other animals because they were a threat to the cultivators.