Human-Wildlife Conflict In the Forest Villages of Barak Valley, Assam, India

H Dutta,H Singha,P Deb,B Dutta,A Das

doi:10.12944/cwe.10.1.29

Abstract

Man and animals are frequently coming into conflicts over habitat and food requirements and this is mainly due to expanding human population and loss of natural habitats. The problem has been identified as major challenge to the governments of many countries and is significant to many human communities. Forest villages are the most potent sites for this problem as these are the places where human needs intersect with those of the wild animals. There are 104 forest villages in Barak Valley which is constituted by three districts; namely: Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj located in the Southern part of the Indian state of Assam. However, no proper study has yet been pursued with respect to man-wildlife conflict in these villages. Hence, present study was attempted to indentify the various wild animals which are involved in conflict in the forest villages of the region. The study revealed that there were four conflict animals; viz: jackal, civet, wild boar and monkey which were most commonly associated with the problem in these villages.

Highlights

Biodiversity or wildlife-related conflicts are situations when wildlife comes into conflict with humans over common resources (Conover, 2002; Graham et al, 2005)
The forest village dwellers mainly suffer from conflicts with Golden jackal (Canis aureus), Civets (Viverricula indica, Paradoxus hamiltonis, Paguma larvata, Viverra zibetha), Rhesus monkey (Macaca mulata) and wild boars (Sus scorfa) (Tables 1-5)
All the four conflict animals were found only in the two former Ranges, while only monkey depredation was found in Sadar Range, and except for monkey all three animal species depredation was recorded in Jirighat Range (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Biodiversity or wildlife-related conflicts are situations when wildlife comes into conflict with humans over common resources (Conover, 2002; Graham et al, 2005). According to Woodroffe et al (2005), human-wildlife conflict is the phenomenon where conflicting situations arise between humans and wildlife in the form of crop raiding, livestock depredation, predation on managed wild animal species or killing of people. People residing near forests as well as in forest fragments are more prone to conflicts as wild animals seek to fulfil their nutritional, ecological and behavioural needs (Sukumar, 1990). People residing in and around forests fall victims to conflicts with wild animals because their requirements often overlap with those of the wildlife. Human–wildlife conflict attracts serious attention when endangered species are involved in and when human welfare is threatened (Saberwal et al, 1994). Other than the charismatic animals, depredation could be caused by some commonly occurring animals which result severe consequences and losses

Methods

Results

Conclusion