Wildlife-tourism, local communities and tiger conservation: A village-level study in Corbett Tiger Reserve, India

Local communities are an important stakeholder in any carnivore translocation programme and therefore, their acceptance of the translocation and support are essential to ensure its viability. Recent tiger augmentation efforts in Satkosia Tiger Reserve, India received mixed responses from the local communities, causing a stalemate in its progress. As a part of the adaptive management strategy, it was required to assess the concerns and issues to provide a practical solution. Hence, we analyzed the attitude of the people toward conservation in general and tiger specifically. We used structured questionnaire surveys and interviewed 1,932 households from 43 villages located in and around the reserve. We tested the influence of several variables representing four categories- (1) socio-economic, (2) ecosystem values and dependence, (3) relationship with the forest department and (4) losses and fear, on the attitude toward tiger conservation. The villages were clustered based on the responses received under these categories. While conserving forest was important to 91% of respondents, 71% of respondents supported wildlife conservation and only 35% felt important to conserve tiger. The logistic binary regression predicted that at the household level attitude toward tiger conservation is influenced positively by economic well-being, sense of forest ecosystem services, resource dependence and negatively influenced by restrictions from the forest department, and previous experience of loss due to wildlife. At the village level, literacy, resource dependence, access to clean cooking fuel and cooperation from the forest department predicted a positive attitude toward tiger conservation. Restriction from the forest department, fear for livestock, and experience of losses due to wildlife had a negative influence on attitude. We recommend that the villages in the landscape are prioritized based on their needs and accordingly, specific interventions are made to address their concerns. Future augmentation programme must give importance to intangible factors such as fear and perceived restrictions and opt for the involvement of the local community in the decision-making process.

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Wildlife tourism and local communities: Evidence from India

Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights ◽

10.1016/j.annale.2021.100016 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 100016

Author(s):

Aruna Rao ◽

Shalini Saksena

Keyword(s):

Local Communities ◽

Wildlife Tourism

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Local people's attitudes towards conservation and wildlife tourism around Sariska Tiger Reserve, India

Journal of Environmental Management ◽

10.1016/j.jenvman.2003.09.002 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 69 (4) ◽

pp. 339-347 ◽

Cited By ~ 134

Author(s):

Nagothu Udaya Sekhar

Keyword(s):

Wildlife Tourism ◽

Tiger Reserve ◽

People’S Attitudes

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Human–tiger Panthera tigris conflict and its perception in Bardia National Park, Nepal

Oryx ◽

10.1017/s0030605313000483 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 48 (4) ◽

pp. 522-528 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Babu R. Bhattarai ◽

Klaus Fischer

Keyword(s):

National Park ◽

Positive Attitude ◽

Buffer Zone ◽

Local Communities ◽

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Panthera Tigris ◽

Annual Loss ◽

Monetary Compensation ◽

Tiger Conservation ◽

Human Wildlife Conflict

AbstractHuman–wildlife conflict is a significant problem that often results in retaliatory killing of predators. Such conflict is particularly pronounced between humans and tigers Panthera tigris because of fatal attacks by tigers on humans. We investigated the incidence and perception of human–tiger conflict in the buffer zone of Bardia National Park, Nepal, by interviewing 273 local householders and 27 key persons (e.g. representatives of local communities, Park officials). Further information was compiled from the Park's archives. The annual loss of livestock attributable to tigers was 0.26 animals per household, amounting to an annual loss of 2% of livestock. Livestock predation rates were particularly high in areas with low abundance of natural prey. During 1994–2007 12 people were killed and a further four injured in tiger attacks. Nevertheless, local people generally had a positive attitude towards tiger conservation and were willing to tolerate some loss of livestock but not human casualties. This positive attitude indicates the potential for implementation of appropriate conservation measures and we propose mitigation strategies such as education, monetary compensation and monitoring of tigers.

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Social Preference of Local Communities Towards Wildlife Tourism in the Indian Himalayas

Wilderness of Wildlife Tourism ◽

10.1201/9781315365817-7 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 113-128

Author(s):

Pariva Dobriyal ◽

Ruchi Badola ◽

Syed Ainul Hussain

Keyword(s):

Social Preference ◽

Local Communities ◽

Wildlife Tourism ◽

Indian Himalayas

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Assessments on the impact of human-tiger conflict and community-based conservation in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, India

Journal of Threatened Taxa ◽

10.11609/jott.3015.10.7.11844-11849 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (7) ◽

pp. 11844

Author(s):

Sandeep Chouksey ◽

Somesh Singh

Keyword(s):

Negative Impact ◽

Madhya Pradesh ◽

Rangeland Management ◽

Wildlife Habitat ◽

Livestock Grazing ◽

Community Based ◽

Community Based Conservation ◽

Tiger Reserve ◽

Tiger Conservation ◽

The Impact

Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) is one of the famous tiger reserves in India, situated in Uamria District of Madhya Pradesh. Data on human-tiger conflict were collected from the forest record during the period from 2001 to 2011 and a questionnaire survey was conducted to know the level of human-tiger conflict. A total of 27 human casualties were recorded, of which 40.75% were lethal (death) and 59.25% were injuries. A total of 1,603 livestock killing were recorded by tiger, of which consisting of 76.54% (1227) cattle (cow/ox), 22.52% (361) buffaloes and 0.93% (15) goats. Illegal entry into the core and buffer area for collection of minor forest produce, daily needs, and livestock grazing were observed to be the major reasons behind the existing conflict. Poor livestock shelter was also found responsible for mauling of cattle by tigers. The forest department had provided adequate compensation for the losses, but most of the respondents were unsatisfied due to assorted reasons. Poaching and retaliation killing of tiger is also a serious issue in and around BTR. A total of four tiger poaching and one revenge killing case was recorded. Conflicts create a negative impact on people, even then majority of the respondents (83.89%) felt the necessity for tiger conservation. Wildlife habitat improvement, restocking of prey base by translocation of herbivores, fencing of protected areas, controlled grazing and rangeland management, adequate compensation, eco-development, promoting the use of toilets in surrounding villages for safety, proper housing of livestock, and community-based conservation are some options for control and management of human-tiger conflict.

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Occupancy estimation and modeling in monitoring tigers with implications for conservation and management

Environment Conservation Journal ◽

10.36953/ecj.2014.151204 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 15 (1&2) ◽

pp. 21-33

Author(s):

Debabrata Swain ◽

Paul J. Morris

Keyword(s):

Local Population ◽

Explanatory Power ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Panthera Tigris ◽

Modeling Analysis ◽

Tiger Reserve ◽

Occupancy Estimation ◽

Mammalian Predator ◽

Tiger Conservation ◽

Management Staff

The tiger (Panthera tigris) is highly endangered through out its range and one of the impediments to effective tiger conservation is the lack of simple and cost effective methods for monitoring of wild tiger populations. With an aim to find a rapid, cost effective, and statistically robust methodology to take quick management decisions, observations of tiger and co-predator sign in administrative subunits (beats) of the Similipal Tiger Reserve, located between 200 28’ and 220 08’ North latitude, and 860 04’ and 860 37’ East longitude in India, were subjected to an occupancy estimation and modeling analysis. Several environmental factors were identified as covariates with explanatory power for the pattern of observations of tiger sign. Most important of these were the proportion of the area of the beat that is classified as disturbed habitat, the distance between the beat and the nearest inhabited place, and the total number of prey observed in the beat in a separate set of surveys for ungulates and other tiger prey species. The results of this analysis have clear management implications for the reserve, with beats classifiable into four categories, each with its own target strategy for increasing tiger abundance. These categories are: highest concern, reduce disturbance, increase prey protection, and maintain current protection. This study suggests that occupancy estimation and modeling from surveys of large mammalian predator sign is a simple cost-effective statistically robust methodology that can be performed by the management staff of a reserve and can be used to engage members of the local population in conservation.

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