Paper No: 03 Biodiversity and Conservation

Module: 40 Man and Wildlife Conflicts

Development Team
Prof. R.K. Kohli
Principal Investigator
& Prof. V.K. Garg & Prof. Ashok Dhawan
Co- Principal Investigator
Central University of Punjab, Bathinda

Prof. Daizy Batish

Paper Coordinator
Panjab University, Chandigarh
Prof. Daizy Batish
Content Writer
Central University of Punjab, Bathinda
Dr. Sunil Mittal,
Content Reviewer
Central University of Punjab, Bathinda

Anchor Institute Central University of Punjab

Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation

Environmental
Sciences Man and Wildlife Conflicts
 Description of Module

Subject Name Environmental Sciences

Paper Name Biodiversity and Conservation
Threats to Man and Wildlife Conflicts
Biodiversity
Module Id EVS/BC-III/40
Pre-requisites
In this module we will learn about
 Causes of human-wildlife conflict
Objectives
 Examples and Case studies
 Possible remedies
Keywords

Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation

Environmental
Sciences Man and Wildlife Conflicts
 Module 40: Man and Wildlife Conflicts

OVERVIEW
 Introduction
 Causes of human-wildlife conflict
 Examples and Case studies
 Possible remedies

INTRODUCTION

Earth, the only planet proven to support life (although Mars has also been claimed to do so,
but not yet convincingly proven) is endowed with a wide variety of flora and fauna. Right
from the miniscule algae to the higher plants further to the more complex human beings, the
variety of life forms on the planet never ceases to amaze anyone. In spite of such diversity,
these life forms are interlinked with one another and as such, dependent on each other for
survival. For instance, certain carnivorous species like the felines (tiger, panther, and so on)
feed on other animals like the deer or the boars for survival. Even a large number of human
beings devour delicious delicacies prepared from other animals such as the poultry, lamb, fish
and others. As such, an alteration in the number of one species of living form, may, nay does,
directly and / or indirectly have a bearing on the survival of other species too.

A new concept termed ‘man and wildlife conflict’ also variously referred to as ‘human and
wildlife conflict’. What exactly does this concept signify? The World Wide Fund for Nature
(WWF) has officially defined human and wildlife conflict as ‘any interaction between
humans and wildlife that results in negative impacts on human social, economic or cultural
life, on the conservation of wildlife populations, or on the environment’. The basic idea is
very simple to understand. Generally, humans try not come in contact with wildlife in the
places they dwell, i.e. human settlements are as far away from wildlife as possible. This
serves to prevent either species from harming one another. However, due to an arising need,
such as explosion of the population and exploration of food or other resources, humans may

Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation

Environmental
Sciences Man and Wildlife Conflicts
 invade the forest area and carry out measures such as deforestation, thus disturbing the plant
and animal wildlife of that region. This not only harms the jungle flora and fauna and
consequently the environment, but in turn, also exposes the human beings to certain perils
such as human casualties, crop damage and loss of subsequent economy, loss of property or
livestock, and even zoonoses (diseases can be transmitted from animals to humans). Hence,
the term ‘çonflict’ has been preferred to the more subtle ‘interaction’. Unsurprisingly, man-
wildlife conflict has now arisen as a matter of global concern, and hence; a subject of
extensive research.

Wild animals can attack humans and such attacks can be broadly classified as – territorial,
defensive or predatory.
 Territorial attack – When wild animals attack other animals or humans that invade or
trespass their territory
 Defensive attack – When a wild animal perceives danger from a human and attacks
him/her in order to protect itself
 Predatory attack – When a wild animal attacks humans as a prey for food. This is
usually seen among tigers that become too old or injured and hence, cannot prey on
other animals that are too fast or too swift for it. Thus, they begin to prey on humans,
which are easier to hunt than other animals. Such tigers are termed as ‘man-eaters’.

CAUSES OF HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT –

1. Increase in Human population-

The expansion of urban and rural parts, also increase in requirements of people as a result of
increasing population has led to many settlements coming up near the peripheries of
protected areas, encroaching the forest areas and using it for their own benefit. Moreover,
land is also required for agricultural and horticultural purposes. This is first and most
important cause giving rise to conflict between man and wildlife.

Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation

Environmental
Sciences Man and Wildlife Conflicts
 2. Encroachment of forest lands –

An increase in human population obviously leads to increase in the requirements of the

population. The construction of hydroelectric power plants as well clearing for forests for
mining and industries also contributes to encroachment of forest areas. Such human activities
can fragment large animal habitats into smaller patches, threatening their existence and
increasing their conflict with the humans.

3. Livestock grazing –

Livestock grazing owned by humans in forest areas can affect wildlife in multiple ways.
Firstly, the livestock compete with the wild herbivores for palatable plant species and water,
thus creating a scarcity for the indigenous herbivore population. Secondly, livestock mainly
feed on the young saplings, affecting the regeneration of plant and tree species. Moreover, the
presence of livestock attracts the carnivores, thus exposing them to retaliatory trapping and
killing by humans so as to protect the livestock. Lastly, an increased contact between
livestock and wildlife can aid in the spread of communicable diseases from domestic to wild
animals and vice versa. Scientific studies in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve indicate that the

Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation

Environmental
Sciences Man and Wildlife Conflicts
 population of wild ungulates declines in areas where the grazing pressures are high. Over
grazing also harms the environment indirectly by increasing the rate of soil erosion.

4. Road kills –
With increase in industrial development, road construction has increased exponentially. The
traffic density in India is estimated to increase at the rate of ten percent annually. Some of the
roads developed to handle this traffic pass through forest areas. Apart from fragmenting the
natural habitat of the wildlife, driving at high speed combined with poor eyesight or poor
reflexes on the part of the animal contribute to a high incidence of road accidents. The
common victims of such accidents are the nocturnal animals such as mouse deer, civet cats,
black-naped hares, leopards and sambars. There have been several reports of tigers, elephant
calves or elephants, chitals, dholes, sloth bears, wolves, blackbucks and other large mammals
killed in numerous road accidents.

Death of an animal in a road accident may indirectly impact the ecosystem immensely. Death
of herbivores may deplete the carnivorous animals of food. Death of a female tiger may
starve her cubs. Thus, various precautionary measures, as discussed later, need to be
implemented to reduce the incidence of such road accidents.

Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation

Environmental
Sciences Man and Wildlife Conflicts
 EFFECTS OF CONFLICTS
 Mortality and injuries to human beings
 Mortality and injuries to endangered or threatened animals
 Loss of livestock
 Crop damage
 Loss of property (Buildings, vehicles, equipments etc.)

Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation

Environmental
Sciences Man and Wildlife Conflicts
 EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDIES

1. Elephants –

The dwindling nature of elephant habitats, both Asian and African elephants, has served as
one of the greatest lessons regarding the dangers of human-animal conflict. Besides poaching,
this has contributed to a significant decline in the elephant numbers in the recent past. The
increasing food demands of an ever growing population has forced humans to expand the
land for agriculture, which often encroaches upon the existing elephant habitats. The
elephants are therefore, squeezed into smaller habitats, which then affects both the parties
involved in the conflict.

Lesser availability of free space for movement and feeding leads to elephants frequently
raiding adjacent crop lands. Besides endangering human lives due to elephant stampede, the
subsequent damage to crops causes huge financial losses to the farmers, thus affecting both
domestic and international agro businesses. The economically vulnerable farmers are the
worst sufferers. For instance, the damage caused by elephants to oil palm plantations and
timber estates in Riau, Indonesia, is estimated to be approximately US $ 105 million per year
(WWF factsheet 2006).

2. Great apes –

Similar to elephants, expansion of human habitations are taking a great toll on the natural
habitats of our ancestors – the apes.

Around Kibale National Park in Uganda, chimpanzees have been reported to raid crops such
as banana, maize, and sugar cane on average 75 times a year. As a protective response,
around 15% of the farmers in this region lay out traps, snares or poisons to kill the crop-
raiders. Similarly, the rapid expansion of oil palm plantations in Sabah (Borneo), Malaysia, in

Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation

Environmental
Sciences Man and Wildlife Conflicts
 the 1980s and 1990s saw many orangutans being displaced from their natural habitat and
killed for raiding plantations and eating young oil palm fronds. Mountain gorillas that have
lost their natural fear of humans due to gorilla-based tourism also raid crops, with some
groups foraging principally on cultivated land for weeks or even months. Thus, fatal
interactions between humans and monkeys is greatly on the rise, contributing to substantial
damage to both sides.

3. The felines –

The vast majority of big cat species particularly the tigers and the snow leopards have been
the victims of human expansion and encroachment activities. The number of tigers globally
has declined drastically from 100,000 to around 7,000 over a period of 100 years. Similarly,
the habitat of the Central Asian leopard has declined from several million hectares to less
than 8,00,000 hectares the last century. These statistics represent a matter of grave concern
that they actually present.

A significant reason for the decline in the wild cat population has been human animal conflict
that has increased significantly over the past few decades. The feeding of the wild cats on
livestock reared near their habitat leads to their capture and killing in retaliation by humans.
A survey in northern India indicated that over a 14-month period, an average household lost
six animals, valued at almost US$300, with snow leopards responsible for 55 per cent of
these kills. Between 1996 and 2002, eight snow leopards were reportedly killed in one
northern Indian village alone.

4. Greater one-horned rhinoceros

The greater one-horned rhinoceros has steadily increased in number from 600 in the year
1975 to about 24000 as of the present across India and Nepal. Nevertheless, as a flip side to
this, destruction of crops and farm produce by the rhinos has also increased, leading to

Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation

Environmental
Sciences Man and Wildlife Conflicts
 retaliatory actions by the farmers. This increased number of the animals posing a significant
threat to their existence due to conflicts.

5. Bears

The spectacled bear is native ot the Andean mountains of Venezuela, Peru, Ecaudor, Bolivia,
Colombia and other countries of Latin America. Increased deforestation in the Andean
mountains has exposed their population to human contact. Moreover, these forests have been
replaced with maize fields which is a particularly favoured food of these bears. As a result,
around 200 bears are killed each year by the farmers as a means to protect their farm produce
and economy. This has threatened the bear species leading to a possibility of extinction.

Another example can be cited of brown bears that were abundantly found in most of the
Northern hemisphere once up on a time. Today, however, they are restricted to the
Carpathian Mountains in the Central and Eastern Europe. This is primarily due to the rapid
economic development in these regions. Brown bears tend to attack livestock, beehives,
orchards and occasionally food storehouses and dustbins, leading to retaliatory actions by the
local farmers. Though the number of brown bears has significantly increased over the past
100 years as a result of re-introduction and conservation programmes, the increased human-
bear conflict does place their population at risk for reduction due to human precautionary
measures.

6. Wolves

Similar to brown bears, the wolverine population in Europe has increased steadily over the
past few decades due to conservation measures and these animals are found in significant
numbers in the European Alps and the Italian Apennine mountains. However, these wolves
are usually blamed by the local farmers for the loss of their livestock, though this is primarily
caused by dogs and not wolves; leading to their shooting in retaliation. Hunters too hunt

Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation

Environmental
Sciences Man and Wildlife Conflicts
 down the wolves, so as to prevent competition for deer and other prey animals. This exposes
the wolves to the risk of death in the hands of humans.

POSSIBLE REMEDIES

The solution to human wildlife conflict cannot be carried out at an individual level; it
necessitates the co-operation and co-ordination between different stakeholders and co-
ordinated and regulated measures that should be implemented on a large scale.

The following measures can be attempted –

1. Improvement of habitat –
The Ministry of Environment should shoulder the responsibility of improving the natural
habitats for the wild animals. Studies should be conducted to indentify the ideal or the best
possible habitat for a particular animal and its living in that particular habitat should be
encouraged. For instance, a recently conducted study (yet to be published) has identified the
Palamau region in Jharkhand, India as a suitable habitat for the Asian elephants. The
availability of food and water in these natural habitats should be augmented so that the
animal excursion into human settlements can be reduced.

2. Barriers between humans and wildlife –

Physical barriers such as boundary walls, solar fences or trenches can be constructed to
minimize animal movements into human settlements. Regulations should be in place to
restrict the human habitation and farmlands to within a certain area of forest lands so that
direct contact between man and wildlife can be avoided as much as possible.

3. Training programmes –
The forest officers, police and the local population needs to be trained to avoid human-
wildlife conflict. They should realize the importance of not extending their settlements or
agricultural land deep into the forests and should avoid over grazing of livestock in the forest

Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation

Environmental
Sciences Man and Wildlife Conflicts
 areas. Moreover, they should also be trained to avoid animal excursions into their hands in a
way that least harms the wild animal, or in other words, avoidance of retaliatory killing or
injuring the animal. Local co-operation is imperative to reduce the incidence of human-
wildlife conflict. A list of ‘Do’s’and ‘Don’ts’from the Ministry shall be helpful with strict
punishments to deter any violations of these regulations.

4. Technical support –
Infrastructure and necessary medical facilities should be provided in case any wild animal or
human gets injured in case of a conflict. Hospitals should be established, both human and
veterinary to attend to these. Measures should also be taken to rehabilitate the injured animals
in rescue centres and release them back into their natural habitats.

5. Regulations for traffic

Construction of roads within forests or natural habitats for wild animals should be avoided as
much as possible. If any such road is constructed, measures should be adopted to their save
movement by constructing natural corridors. Speed regulations should be imposed for drivers
driving through the forest roads, especially during night time and violators should be strictly
punished. Speed calming measures such as speed breakers, road humps, rumble strips or
chicanes can also be constructed at appropriate locations.

REFERENCES

 Conover, M. R. (2001). Resolving human-wildlife conflicts: the science of wildlife

damage management. CRC press.
 Available online at www.conservationthreates.org. Accessed on 8th Aug 2017.
 Available online at http://wwf.panda.org/?62900/Factsheet-Human-Animal-Conflict.
Accessed on 12th Aug 2017

Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation

Environmental
Sciences Man and Wildlife Conflicts
  Available online at http://www.greentribunal.in/orderinpdf/38-
2011(App)_7Sept2012_final_order.pdf . Accessed on 12th Aug 2017.
 Guidelines for Human-leopard Management, April 2011, Ministry of Environment &
Forests Government of India accessed on 12th Aug 2017.
 http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/38074/7/07_chapter%202.pdf

Paper 03 Biodiversity and Conservation

Environmental
Sciences Man and Wildlife Conflicts