Abstract
Religious beliefs and spiritual connections to biodiversity have the potential to reduce animosity towards wildlife that might otherwise present a real or perceived threat to local people. Understanding this social dynamic can therefore be important for formulating locally-appropriate species-specific conservation strategies. Using semi-structured interviews which incorporated human-tiger conflict scenarios, we investigated how beliefs towards tigers varied between ethnic groups living around a large protected area that is home to the largest tiger population in Sumatra. We gathered this information to determine the degree to which cultural tolerance may contribute to the survival of the tiger in the Kerinci Seblat landscape, Indonesia. From 154 interviewees, 133 respondents came from three main ethnic groups, Minangkabau, Kerincinese and Melayu. The majority (73.5%) of Minangkabau interviewees cited that their ethnic group had customary laws regarding tigers, as did 52% of Melayu and 44% of Kerincinese. Irrespective of ethnicity, most participants did not perceive there to be a connection between Islam and tigers. All participants acknowledged the existence of zoological tigers and two groups (Minangkabau and Kerincinese) held a strong common belief that different types of spirit tigers also existed. From presenting different human-tiger conflict scenarios, with varying levels of severity towards livestock or human life, an unprovoked tiger attack in the village elicited the most calls for the tiger to be killed. Yet, if a village or family member was killed by a tiger whilst hunting in the forest then most respondents across all ethnic groups said to do nothing. The frequency of this response increased if a tiger killed someone in the village who had committed adultery, reflecting beliefs associated with the role of the tiger as an enforcer of moral rule. Our study highlights the importance of consulting with local communities who live in close proximity to large and potentially dangerous carnivores when developing conflict mitigation strategies, which hitherto has not been the case in Sumatra.
Highlights
People are likely to come into greater contact with wildlife as rural populations grow
Unlike many other parts of Asia where tiger populations in human-dominated landscapes have been extirpated, Kerinci Seblat National Park contains a large tiger population, and one that lives in close proximity to people [12, 19]
Supported by oral traditions passed down through generations these beliefs endure to some degree amongst forestedge communities in the Kerinci Seblat landscape who have co-existed with this large-bodied carnivore for centuries [26]
Summary
People are likely to come into greater contact with wildlife as rural populations grow. Animals may be perceived to threaten human lives or livelihoods, and they may be killed in retribution [1]. Local opinions and behaviour towards carnivores can differ greatly within and across human societies and landscapes. Despite a lack of compensation schemes for livestock losses, many people living in the Kruger area, South Africa, do not kill lions in retribution [3] and there is evidence of cultural tolerance enabling higher persistence of multiple carnivore species in India [4]. The persecution of some species continues, often to offset economic loss or to reduce perceived fear of encounters, as found with the hunting of wolves in North America [5]
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