To kill or not to kill?: factors related to people’s support of lethal and non-lethal strategies for managing monkeys in India

Abstract

ABSTRACT People use many kinds of mitigation strategies to resolve human-wildlife conflict issues, and their preferences for lethal or non-lethal techniques are influenced by socio-cultural factors and their attitudes toward the conflict species. We conducted studies in two regions in India to investigate factors related to people’s choice of conflict mitigation strategies against commensal monkey species. We conducted qualitative and quantitative, face-to-face interviews to collect data and analyzed the relationships among socio-demographic variables, strategies used, and duration of conflict. Respondents’ choice of mitigation strategies was related to their religion, education, and conflict history, but not occupation. A small percentage of respondents recommended monkey culling as a mitigation strategy, but the majority preferred that government authorities use translocation or sterilization as a mitigation measure. A deeper understanding of socio-cultural beliefs and traditions at regional levels is necessary before mitigation strategies are instituted in a generalized manner against conflict wildlife.