Attitudes and Perceptions of the Local People on Human–Elephant Conflict in the Patharia Hills Reserve Forest of Assam, India

Abstract

Wildlife conservation is important to maintain ecosystem balance, and its success relies largely on the involvement of local communities. The study focused on understanding the socio-economic profile of the local people, and their attitudes and perception towards the conflict causing Asiatic elephant Elephas maximus in the Patharia Hills Reserve Forest, North East India. Close-ended questionnaires were used to collect information from the local communities. A total of 300 respondents within a 2 km radius were sampled in three distance categories, and the relative frequency was calculated. The results indicate that people’s attitudes were not supportive of elephant conservation and they were scared of the negative effects of conservation. The respondents who lived far from the forest were more interested in elephant conservation whereas respondents living in close proximity to the forest were against elephant conservation (χ2 = 108.8, df = 8, p < 0.001). People who had experienced Human–Elephant Conflict in real life were significantly more negative on elephant conservation than those had no experience of conflict (χ2 = 56.33, df = 8, p < 0.001). Occupation also had a crucial role in the attitude building process to conserve conflict causing elephants. People in forest related occupation were against conservation and others who were unrelated to the forest were supporting conservation (χ2 = 39.04, df = 8, p < 0.01). As a whole, three significant factors, i.e., distance from the forest, conflict with the elephant, and occupation had key roles in building people’s attitudes. Negative attitudes and perceptions should essentially be utilized while implementing conservation programs.