Perceptions of crop raiding: effects of land tenure and agro-industry on human-wildlife conflict

Issues of human wildlife conflict (HWC) always challenges in conservation and management. Crop raiding, property damage, livestock depredation and human casualties are the most common forms of conflict. It was investigated the issues of human wild mammal conflict in and around the Panchase area in Chitwan Annapurna Landscape of Nepal from March 2017 to April 2018 using semi-structured questionnaires and focal group discussion. Wide spread human wildlife conflict was observed in Panchase area. Monkey, muntjac deer, porcupine and rabbit were the main crop raider that resulted in total economic loss of US$ 29.56 per household (HH). Overall economic loss by livestock depredation was estimated US$ 11254.54 (US$ 112.54/HH). Leopard contributed to the highest cases of livestock depredation. A total of five human attack cases were recorded including one fatal and four injuries. Himalayan black bear contributed to 80 % of the total attacks and 20 % by leopards. Present study focused on the issues and status of conflicts in the Panchase area, a representative of midhills and Chitwan Annapurana Landscape. This study suggests that future study related to mitigation and preventing methods should be conducted to minimize the issues of human wildlife conflicts.

Download Full-text

Assessment Of Human-Wildlife Conflict And Its Implication For Conservation at sundarpur, Udayapur, Eastern Nepal

Tribhuvan University Journal ◽

10.3126/tuj.v33i2.33602 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 33 (2) ◽

pp. 15-30

Author(s):

Chandramani Aryal ◽

Manoj Pokharel

Keyword(s):

Wildlife Conservation ◽

Household Surveys ◽

Crop Raiding ◽

Wildlife Conflict ◽

Wildlife Species ◽

Key Informant ◽

Observation Method ◽

Sloth Bear ◽

Human Wildlife Conflict ◽

Direct Observation Method

This study was carried out to document the prevailing situation of human-wildlife conflict in Sundarpur of Udayapur district, Nepal where significant numbers of sloth bear along with other troublesome wildlife species occur. Data about conflict and people's perception towards wildlife conservation was collected using household surveys supplemented by key informant interviews and direct observation method. Monkeys (93%) and elephants (86%) were found to be major animals involved in conflict mostly resulting into crop raiding, which was the major form of conflict as reported by (95%) of respondents. Livestock depredation cases were mostly by common leopard (84%) and sloth bear was involved in majority of human attack cases (90%). According to respondents, the trend of conflict was found to be increasing for elephants (63%) and monkeys (73%) while it was found to be decreasing for sloth bear (64%), wild boar (85%), and leopard (46%), where people believed natural attraction of wildlife towards crops/livestock to be the major driving factor of conflict. Despite the prevalence of conflict most of the respondents showed positive attitude towards wildlife conservation in Sundarpur. This implies a better future for wildlife conservation in this area if the issues associated with human-wildlife conflict are addressed effectively.

Download Full-text

Assessing the failure of a community-based human-wildlife conflict mitigation project in Budongo Forest Reserve, Uganda

Oryx ◽

10.1017/s0030605307001792 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

pp. 177-184 ◽

Cited By ~ 50

Author(s):

A. D. Webber ◽

C. M. Hill ◽

V. Reynolds

Keyword(s):

Mitigation Strategies ◽

Pest Species ◽

Crop Raiding ◽

Forest Reserve ◽

Wildlife Conflict ◽

Budongo Forest Reserve ◽

Budongo Forest ◽

The Impact ◽

Human Wildlife Conflict ◽

Conflict Mitigation

AbstractPrimate crop raiding is a major cause of human-wildlife conflict around the forests of western Uganda. In an attempt to ameliorate the situation a conflict mitigation strategy was established in villages around the Budongo Forest Reserve in 2001. Live-traps were constructed that allowed the identification of crop raiding animals; pest species could be disposed of and threatened species released unharmed. However, by 2004 none of the traps in the study area were functioning and interviews were conducted to assess the reasons for their decline and local people's acceptance of the intervention. Forty-one percent of respondents did not believe the strategy was effective and the majority of local farmers did not accept responsibility for the traps. This was because of operational failures in four areas: (1) the identification of key stakeholders, (2) objective evaluation to assess the efficacy and benefit of the intervention, (3) participatory monitoring and evaluation, and (4) long-term funding commitment by conservation agencies. We examine the impact of these four elements upon the sustainability of the live-trap programme and stress the importance of recognizing and reporting failures to develop effective and acceptable mitigation strategies.

Download Full-text

Non-palatable Medicinal Plants as a Solution to Crop Raiding by Wild Herbivores around Protected Areas

Journal of Ecological Society ◽

10.54081/jes.025/03 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 29 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Poorva Joshi ◽

Milind Watve

Keyword(s):

Medicinal Plant ◽

National Park ◽

Wild Animals ◽

Crop Raiding ◽

Conservation Area ◽

Wildlife Conflict ◽

The People ◽

Good Population ◽

Tiger Reserve ◽

Human Wildlife Conflict

The Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) is an important nature conservation area for the country having a good population of wild animals. However, on the fringes of this national park, there are issues of human-wildlife conflict such as crop raiding by wild animals, which is an underestimated problem. The constant threat of crop predators and perceived loss in crop produce has discouraged agriculture in close vicinity of the park. Farming is the main livelihood for the people living near TATR, therefore it is an urgent need to keep under review the alternative options that can contribute to farmers’ welfare. Considering the developing medicinal plant demand, there is potential in cultivating non-palatable traded medicinal plant species that are resistant to crop-raiding by wildlife. The paper suggests such a model for farmers. We focus on research, awareness, motivation, facilitation and establishing market linkages.

Download Full-text