Abstract
Human-wildlife conflicts restrict conservation efforts, especially for wide-ranging animals whose home ranges overlap with human activities. We conducted a study to understand conflicts with, and factors influencing the perceived value of an expanding population of onagers (Equus hemionus onager) in local communities in southern Iran. We asked about locals’ perceptions of six potential management strategies intended to lessen human-onager conflict. We found that human-onager conflict was restricted to 45% of respondents within the Bahram-e-Goor Protected Area, all of whom were involved in farming or herding activities. Locals within the protected area were more knowledgeable about onagers and valued onagers more than those living outside the protected area. The perceived value of onagers increased with level of education, total annual income, and perceptions of onager population trends; the perceived value of onagers decreased with the magnitude of conflict between onagers and locals. To tolerate or avoid conflicts with onagers, locals were supportive of monetary compensation and changing from a traditional lifestyle to industrialized farming (for farmers) or livestock production (for herders) with the help of government; locals did not support selling land to the government. Our study is among the first in human-wildlife conflict and local attitudes towards an endangered species and its recovery in Iran. We conclude that current levels of human-onager conflict are relatively low and perceived value of onagers is still relatively high. Therefore, wildlife authorities should consider the development of mitigation strategies with local communities before conflicts intensify.
Highlights
Wide-ranging animals share landscapes with humans and their livestock, triggering human-wildlife conflict which can impart harm on both sides [1,2,3]
Because the majority (60% of 190 individuals surveyed from urban centers) of urban residents had never heard of onagers, we focused on comparing responses from individuals residing within and along the boundary of Bahram-e-Goor Protected Area (BPA) to those living outside BPA in rural areas
To ensure that our questionnaires addressed the objectives of our study, we conducted 25 pilot interviews with locals where we explored their views about their livelihoods, BPA, onagers, and other wildlife
Summary
Wide-ranging animals share landscapes with humans and their livestock, triggering human-wildlife conflict which can impart harm on both sides [1,2,3]. Humans may directly kill wildlife in retaliation for livestock or crop depredation, thereby suppressing wildlife populations [4,5]. Such retaliatory killings can lead to collapse of the species’ geographic range, restricting small and isolated populations to formally-protected areas [6,7]. Human dimensions of restoring a wide-ranging endangered species in Iran
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