What is human-wildlife conflict?

Recently, a leopard entered a house in a village in Vellore. The animal was caught by Forest Department officials after being tranquillised and set free in the reverse forest near Pernambut. Earlier this year, a leopard was spotted on the premises of an apartment complex around 5 km from the Bannerghatta National Park in Bengaluru. Incidents of animals straying from forest into residential areas and coming into conflict with humans, resulting in death and injury of people and animals have become more frequent than before. This is referred to as human-wildlife conflict.

The primary reason for the increasing human-animal interaction is urbanization. Human settlements expanding into established wildlife territories lead to conflict over not only space, but also food. Reduction in availability of natural prey leads wild animal to seek alternative sources in the urban regions. Humans also clear forests for agriculture, further compounding the issue.

Primates, such as langurs and macaques, have adapted to urban habitats over the years, where they get easy and quick access to food, compared to the wild. For humans, however, this means putting up with their menace. But, when tigers, leopards, elephants, wolves or snakes stray into human-inhabited areas, the impact is worse.

Why does this matter?

Human-animal conflicts affect animal behavior and activities. For instance, elephants, which are used to travelling long distances while foraging for food, increasingly find their way blocked by highways, railway tracks and factories. As the pachyderms move slowly in herds, the probability of them getting hit by trains is higher. In addition to elephants, other animals such as tigers, bisons, nilgai, and vultures’ are killed as a result of collisions with trains.

Experts say the primary reason for the increasing conflicts is the presence of a large number of animals and birds outside the notified protected areas, where wildlife can roam freely and exploitation of resources by humans is limited. But most of these protected areas in India are too small for territorial animals such as the tiger to roam about. There has been an increase in wildlife sanctuaries in India, but their overall area has considerably reduced.

Solution

Human animal confrontation can be minimized by

  • Taking action against human encroachment of protected areas.
  • Involving the local community in the protection of animals.
  • Demarcating buffer zones after a thorough study of animals, their movement and behaviour.
  • Increasing vigilance at railway lines that cut through animal corridors or areas nearby.
  • Creating alternative water points for wildlife to community water sources.
  • Utilising technology to prevent animals from getting stranded in human settlements.

 

Picture Credit : Google

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