Silent Conflicts – Human-wildlife interactions in urban spaces

Abstract

This is a conceptual paper which analyses incidents of human-wildlife conflicts occurring in urban spaces. To assist in the choice of mitigation measures, the author proposes a categorization for the urban conflicts. The discussions and categorization are based on study of research papers, media reports, discussions with citizen and wildlife experts and the author’s own observations during the last 20 years of living in Pune city.The author proposes two categories of human-wildlife conflict. The first are ‘violent conflicts’ which are intended to prevent or remedy an animal intrusion. Such conflicts occur with animals such as leopards, snakes and monkeys which intrude into urban spaces. Violent conflicts are reported by media and studied by the research communities. The other category proposed is ‘silent conflicts’. These are conflicts arising inadvertently out of human actions, and with no intention to harm animals. Such conflicts go unnoticed and often happen due to ignorance of the possible aftermath.The author proposes different mitigation approaches to each of the categories, including the skills required in their implementation.