Man versus wild: Study stresses the need to strengthen human-wildlife conflict management

71% of 5,196 households across the country that border wildlife reserves lost crops, while another 17% lost livestock, a recently released report has revealed. The report also added that 3% of human injuries, including death were reported in these areas, highlighting the need to strengthen the human-wildlife conflict management across India.

The study examined patterns of human-wildlife conflict and mitigation used by these households between 2011 and 2014 from 2855 villages across four Indian states—Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. It stated that a total of 71% of the 5,196 households reported experiencing some conflict with wildlife, ranging from 58% in Nagarahole to 84 percent in Kanha.

“Resolving human-wildlife conflict requires revisiting the goals of conservation policies and investments by people and organizations. People may be better served by deploying early warning systems, compensation and insurance programs rather than by focusing heavily on mitigation.” said Dr. Krithi Karanth, conservation scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) who is one of the authours for the study along with Sahila Kudalkar, research associate with the Centre for Wildlife Studies.

The surveys conducted by the team found that the around 12 different mitigation techniques were employed to protect crops, livestock and property, which included night-time watch, scare devices, and fencing by rural families in the periphery of reserves.

Interestingly the report pointed out that the tribes such as the Gonds around Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, where 187 families were surveyed considered the forests sacred and thought of carnivores taking away livestocks as their offerings to the forest thus not employing any mitigation measures.

Meanwhile across wildlife reserves, people reported average crop losses amounting to Rs 12,559 annually, which constitute a significant chunk of India’s rural economy, where the majority of the population earns less than Rupees 5,000 per month.

As per researchers the way ahead was identification of effective prevention techniques, strengthening existing compensation schemes, and an open inclusive dialogue between local communities, governments, and conservationists suggesting that failure to do so will only increase hostility and retaliation against wildlife.

“32 different species were reported in conflict incidents across the 11 wildlife reserves. While wild boar, nilgai, and elephant top the list that cause crop damage, leopard, tiger, and canids were the species reported for livestock depredation. Infact wild boar related incidents were the most widespread, with reports from 10 of the 11 sites, followed by nilgai and elephant reported from five sites each,” the report stated.