Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) is a continuous problem in the world and has a significant impact on both human and wildlife populations. This study was conducted to investigate the HWC around Belo-Bira Forest, Dawro zone, southwestern Ethiopia. We collected data from October 2019 to March 2020 through semistructured questionnaires, focus group discussion, direct observation, and key informant interviews. Our results show that crop damage and livestock predation were common problems caused by Papio anubis, Cercopithecus aethiops, Crocuta crocuta, Canis aureus, and Potamochoerus larvatus. Human population growth, habitat disturbance, proximity to natural forest, and competition between wildlife and livestock are the identified causes of HWC. Moreover, the study identified guarding and fencing as dominant traditional methods used to reduce HWC in our study area. Therefore, local communities can minimize crop loss by using the most effective method in an area, and crops such as wheat, maize, and teff should not be grown near the forest edge.

We conducted a review of 26 articles published between 2009 and 2021 to determine human-wildlife conflict based on spatial and temporal patterns, biological components, drivers of conflict, and mitigation methods used. We employed search, synthesis, appraisal, and analysis framework for review and VOSviewer software for network analysis. We included articles that only focused on relations between terrestrial wildlife and humans, while others deal with ecology, distribution, and biology of wildlife because it does not go with HWC. Forty-seven species of terrestrial vertebrates were reported in conflict-related studies, being Bovidae and Cercopithecidae the most frequently studied groups, of which eleven are found in threatened list species. The main drivers reported were land use change, proximity to protected areas, and illegal resource exploitation. In the management case, the use of traditional protection techniques such as fencing, guarding, and physical barriers was reported. About 178 keywords’ analysis revealed a focus on “coexistence,” “mitigation,” and “food security.” The literature focused mainly on larger mammals, led by Ethiopian authors, and excluded the social dimensions of HWC. Therefore, identifying conflict-prone species focuses on the social dimensions of coexistence, such as human attitudes towards terrestrial wildlife, and broadening the taxonomic and cultural breadth of HWC is required.