Man versus wild: Centre for wildlife studies 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, …read more