Abstract
Sloth bears behave aggressively toward humans when threatened and are among the most dangerous wildlife in India. Safety messaging for those who live in sloth bear country must be accurate to be effective, and messaging may need to be modified to account for regional differences in human-bear relationships. The timing of sloth bear attacks on the Deccan Plateau of Karnataka, both by season and by time of day, deviated enough from those reported in other areas such that it warranted further investigation. We compared data from eight studies of human-sloth bear conflict from across the Indian subcontinent and explored possibilities as to why differences exist. Seasonally all studies reported that human-sloth bear conflict was highest when human activity in the forest was greatest, though the season of highest human activity varied significantly by region (χ2 = 5921, df = 5, P < 0.001). The time of day that the majority of attacks occurred also varied significantly by region (χ2 = 666, df = 5, P < 0.001), though human activity was relatively consistent. We speculated that the rate of day attacks on the Deccan Plateau was lower due to the reduced probability of encountering a sleeping bear as they are concealed and secure in shallow caves. Additionally, the rate of attacks was significantly higher at night on the Deccan Plateau because people often to work into nighttime. We concluded that slight differences, or different emphasis, to bear safety messaging may be necessary on a regional basis to keep the messaging accurate and effective.
Highlights
Sloth bear safety messaging has been dispensed through pamphlets, booklets, videos and workshops to reach those living and working in sloth bear country
Our analysis of regional variations in season and diel timing was based on 1,778 sloth bear attacks that were documented in eight studies
On the Deccan Plateau and Gujarat, most sloth bear attacks occurred in winter, which differs significantly from the seasonality of attacks reported by other studies
Summary
Safety messaging for those who live in sloth bear country must be accurate to be effective, and messaging may need to be modified to account for regional differences in human-bear relationships. Recognizing that a bear’s response to human encounters often varies by region is key to providing effective bear safety messaging for people living in a specific area. Our recent s tudy[6] of sloth bear attacks on the Deccan Plateau differed significantly from other studies of human-sloth bear conflict in terms of the timing of attacks, both by season and by time of day. While some variation is expected between areas, the differences between our study and others were substantial enough to warrant further investigation and for us to consider incorporating significant changes to the safety messaging for living with sloth bears on the Deccan Plateau. In this paper we present those differences and discuss their implications for effective bear safety messaging
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