Human–Wild Animal Conflict

Abstract

Wildlife species have faced the impacts of human dominion over the world throughout history. More recently, there has been increased global protection for endangered species as a result of greater awareness and concern for biodiversity. Conservationists are becoming increasingly concerned about the pervasive issue of conflicts between human and wildlife interests, especially as it relates to large carnivores that have the potential to harm both cattle and people. Pre-conflict mitigation refers to proactive measures like fences while post-conflict mitigation refers to compensation payments for lost animals. Both can be used to lessen conflicts between wild animals and livestock owners. The goal of compensation programs is to raise people’s understanding of wildlife. But compensation programs are frequently criticized for being insufficient, difficult, and expensive. Compensation programs must be part of a comprehensive approach that includes options for controlling offending animals, proactive mitigation measures, and, in some cases, broader financial incentives for changes in land use practices in order to be more effective. The latter method has been used in India and several African countries. This chapter deals with various human-animal conflicts and their mitigation strategies. Despite these problems, conservation is likely to become increasingly utilized as biodiversity becomes increasingly threatened and methods of ameliorating threats lag behind.

Human‐wildlife conflict at high altitude: A case from Gaurishankar conservation area, Nepal

“…Hence, strategies for conflict mitigation such as the use of deterrents or secure enclosures, raising awareness among local communities, appropriate waste management, responsible food storage, and insurance programs could be suitable solutions (Joshi, 2019;Pathak et al, 2023;Somu & Palanisamy, 2022).…”

“…Himalayan black bears usually hibernate between December to March and in preparation will eat more grains and fruit, venturing farther in search of food (Bashir et al., 2018), potentially leading to more frequent encounters and conflicts with humans. Hence, strategies for conflict mitigation such as the use of deterrents or secure enclosures, raising awareness among local communities, appropriate waste management, responsible food storage, and insurance programs could be suitable solutions (Joshi, 2019; Pathak et al., 2023; Somu & Palanisamy, 2022).…”

Maxent modeling for predicting suitable habitats for wild ungulates: a case study of typical canyons in the Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve of China

“…In the past two decades, mountain glaciers have been shrinking in and around Sanjiangyuan Nature Reserve of China (SNRC), directly affecting water supplies to plateau lakes and rivers, and further affecting vegetation structure, biodiversity, water conservation and other functions [4][5][6] . Meanwhile, due to this destructive impact of human activities, such as poaching for meat, hides, and fur, excessive livestock grazing, as well as the construction of roads and railways, the original habitat is often lost or fragmented 7 . Many studies have shown that this degradation is a primary factor behind the decline of wild ungulates, attributed mainly to landscape fragmentation and habitat destruction 8 .…”

Human-wildlife conflicts (sudden increase in tiger attacks on humans) in adjacent areas of Corbett National Park Ramnagar Uttarakhand, India (from November 2023 to January 2024)

“…Human-wildlife conflicts are often caused by human population increase, high livestock and wildlife population densities, and changing land use and climate (Mukeka, et al 2019). Conservationists are becoming increasingly concerned about the pervasive issue of conflicts between human and wildlife interests, especially as it relates to large carnivores that have the potential to harm both cattle and people (Somu & Selvaraj, 2022). Human-wildlife conflict arises when interferes with human goals, or when human goals interfere with the needs of wildlife over the needs of local people, aggravating the worldwide problem (Meena, et al 2022).…”