Man-animal Conflict Research Articles

GajGamini: Mitigating Man–Animal Conflict by Detecting Moving Elephants Using Ground Vibration-Based Seismic Sensor

GajGamini: Mitigating Man–Animal Conflict by Detecting Moving Elephants Using Ground Vibration-Based Seismic Sensor

The Issue of Man and Animal Conflict: A Case of Jhargram District, West Bengal

Man-animal conflict is an ancient concept in which humans and wild animals share the same landscapes and resources for their survival. The study investigates the increasing frequency of conflict incidents between humans and animals in various locations within Jhargram District, a region known for its close proximity to both human settlements and wildlife, particularly elephants. Currently, human-animal conflict plays a significant role in altering the landscapes of the southern region of West Bengal in India, and it also has an impact on the rural economy in Jhargram District. Human population growth and expansion, deforestation, habitat degradation, land use change, and livestock grazing in forest and forest fringe areas are all considered major causes of human-animal conflicts. The study aims to pinpoint the underlying causes and repercussions of human-animal conflicts, as well as suggest management strategies to address the issue. The study reveals that people living in forest fringe areas and close to forest protected areas are often prone to attacks, particularly by elephants and other wild animals like hyenas, wild dogs, wild boars, etc.

Human-Wildlife Conflict and Coexistence

Man-animal conflict is a very complex issue which not only involves disruption of forest ecosystem but also a very weak legal support system while establishing wildlife corridors in the protected areas. Developmental projects have also taken a heavy toll on the very existence of wildlife and its symbiotic relationship with the forest ecosystem. The most common causes of human-wildlife conflict are livestock predation, crop raiding, loss of human life, animal death, damage to property, and injuries to people and wildlife. There are some valid reasons for increased man-animal conflicts in the recent past and they are changes in land use patterns (change from protected forest patches to agricultural, horticultural, and monoculture plantations) which destroy wildlife, livestock grazing, unscientific structures and practices of forest management in the country, allowing cattle to graze into forest areas and decreased prey base caused by poaching of herbivores leading to carnivores wandering out of forests in search of prey to indulge in cattle lifting and preying on human children.

Farmer’s Perception and Willingness to Pay for Mitigating Man-Animal Conflicts in Coimbatore Forest Circle

The study assessed the farmers and other stakeholder’s perception on man-animal conflict at Coimbatore forest circle. Around 37 per cent of the respondents outlined that the farm floor is less than one kilometre distance from the reserve forest. Whereas, 33 per cent of the farm floor was within the distance of one to two kilometres revealed that around 70 per cent of the farm floor is very closer to the forest floor and hence the visit of elephants and other animals to the farm field is quite often taking place. While examining the reason for man-animal conflicts, the same were ranked based on the mean score obtained by using the Likert scaling technique with five point continuum. Among the major reasons, the habitat fragmentation found to be number one stood with the opinion of “strongly agree” according to eighty per cent of the respondents. This was followed by shortage of food resources in the forest perimeter and the periodic human invasion into the forests for their various needs like small timber, fuel wood and bush meat related activities found to be the major reasons for unexpected conflicts between the wild animals and the human being. The same was supported by their respective mean scores of “agree” mode of scale developed for this purpose. The most affected crop is banana which is the one most preferred to the elephants which stood in the first rank and the second rank goes to the coconut, the banana and the coconut were the preferred crop to the elephants. in the absence of the two expressed in the rank one and two, the arecanut and sugarcane could attract the elephants around 32 per cent of the respondents were ready to pay some higher amount which ranges between rs 200 to 500. However, around 17 per cent of the respondents were not interested in paying any contribution towards such initiatives. Among the many protective measures practiced by the farmers, the fire crackers and the powerful torches illuminated on the animal face could alleviate the animals immediately and hence these two protective measures were common among the farmers. Besides, researchers has also used probit regression analysis to analyse the influence of different factors on the dependent variable, willingness to pay. Awareness of the respondents towards mitigation measures, effectiveness of existing mitigating measures, and proximity of farm land to reserved forest, percentage of farm income to household income, farm size and economic loss incurred due crop and property damages by the animals. among the seven variables, awareness of the respondents towards mitigation measures, effectiveness of existing mitigating measures, proximity of farm land to reserved forest, farm size and economic loss incurred due crop and property damage were the six factors found to be statistically significant indicated that these factors cause significant changes in the willingness to pay among the stakeholders.

Development of bamboo- (Bambusa bambos) based bio-fence to protect field crops: Insights from a study in India's Bundelkhand region

Stray/wild animals can cause serious damages to crops, leading to accusations and counter accusations among villagers. In the Bundelkhand region of India, this problem is more severe due to “Anna Pratha,” that is, letting loose animals to open graze. Protective measures employed by farmers (barbed wire fencing, conventional fencing, etc.) are not fully effective and also require periodical maintenance, which involves additional costs and manpower. This necessitates the evolution of a cost-effective and long-term solution to minimize the problem. The current study seeks to evaluate the potential of thorny bamboo (Bambusa bambos) as a bio-fence creating deterrence to stray/wild animals at the ICAR—IISWC RC, the research farm of Datia, Madhya Pradesh, India. After 21 months of planting, bamboo plants attained the maximum plant height up to 4.47 m with the highest clump spread diameter of 30.50 cm. However, the growth of the bamboo bio-fence to be effective depends on the edaphic and management conditions. The findings revealed that planting bamboo at a distance of 80.00 cm in the continuous trench can be an effective bio-fence to avoid man–animal conflict. Huge crop losses were reported before the establishment of a bio-fence. In 2021–2022 (when bamboo plants turned into a closely spaced thicket, making a bio-fence), only two incidents of the invasion of animals were reported with no crop damage. The initial cost to develop a bamboo bio-fence was estimated at INR 5,796 for a length of 100 m. Therefore, the present study suggests that bamboo bio-fencing is an economical and effective crop protection measure against damage by wild/stray animals.

Exploring the Nutritional Potential of Wild Grass Fodder for Mega Herbivore (Elephas maximus) in the Foothills of Western Ghats.

Simple SummaryThe aim of the study is to improve elephant habitats by restoring them with wild grass fodder. Based on the feeding behaviour and food spectrum of elephants, the study documented 30 grass fodders. We used standard protocols to assess the nutritional analysis, and finally the study identified five nutrient rich potential grass fodder, viz., Cynodon dactylon, Dichanthium aristatum, Heteropogon contortus, Oplismenus burmannii and Themeda triandra for fodder bank development in corridors and fringe areas to improve the habitat of elephants. Hence, the findings are crucial and can be utilized for the management and conservation of elephantsin the Coimbatore Elephant Reserve (CER).An elephant, being a mega herbivore, consumes large amounts of food. Due to the lack of availability of fodder inside the forest, the elephants move out of their habitat areas and also find agricultural crops attractive, which further results in man–animal conflict. To improve the elephant habitat area, the current study was conducted to assess the availability of native fodder grasses inside the Coimbatore Elephant Reserve, Western Ghats, from April 2021–April 2022. The area falls between 10°37′and 11°31′ North latitudes and 76°39′and 77°5′ East longitudes. It was approached in a systematic random sampling method. A total of 128 sample plots of 1 sq.m size were randomly placed, and the density of grass species was recorded in percentage (%). The collected samples were shade dried for one week, ground to pass through a 1 mm sieve, and stored in polythene bags. Furthermore, the samples were chemically analyzed to determine their nutritional values. The dry matter (DM) content of various grass fodder varied from 28.18% to 59.75%. The crude protein (CP) content differed between 5.94% and 11.94%. The highest CP was recorded in Cynodon dactylon (11.94%) and the least in Aristida setacea (5.94%). Ether extract content was found in the ranges of 1.00% to 5.00%. The acid detergent fibre (ADF) content of Aristida setacea (45.74%) was observed as the highest, whereas the lowest was observed in Oplismenus burmannii (26.78%), followed by Themeda triandra (26.85%), Heteropogon contortus (30.12%) and Enteropogon monostachyos (30.31%). The average neutral detergent fibre content of grass fodder was 52.27%, with a range of 37.89% (Oplismenus burmannii) to 67.87% (Cymbopogon martinii). The average total digestible nutrient (TDN) content of grass was 77.45%; relative forage quality (RFQ) exhibited wider variations among the grasses and ranged between 107.51 and 198.83. This study is a pioneer in evaluating the nutritional values of native grass fodder species for elephants in the Western Ghats. The study gives strategies for the selection of high nutritive fodder grass for the habitat improvement of elephants, and it also provides scientific and baseline information for the conservation of native grass fodder species in the Western Ghats.

The dynamics of the first wave of COVID-19 on environment and wildlife– a boon or a bane?

Even though COVID-19 has drastically weighed upon the humankind, still there is a “silver lining” to see in this dark time. Amidst of this pandemic, most of the human activities were restricted to break the chain of infection which resulted the remarkable change in nature. It has been reported that due to halt in air travel, reduction in the use of fossil fuels, way less functioning of vehicles, shutdown of industries has complied the change in air pollution levels and also change in river water quality. Reports also showed the reduction in particulate matter (PM 2.5 and PM 10), greenhouse gases emissions, massive improvement in the Air quality index (AQI), reduction in the NOX and SOX’s level has clearly stipulated that nature has got it’s time to “revive”. Even the global carbon emission has reported to reduced reluctantly which is expected to be the biggest such drop since World War II. Despite conducting water-cleansing projects and spending a lot of money, the situation of the water bodies were far better now during first lockdown. Moreover, migration and breeding of the birds and animals have been reported to be restored to normal pattern due to depletion in man-animal conflict. Apart from the positive, negative impacts on the nature are also being experienced. Our review work is highlighting such impacts witnessed during the first wave of COVID-19, like, the significant improvement in air and water quality, reduction in environmental noise, therefore an in turn cleaner and quieter habitat for the wildlife to mate and also to quench their curiosities by their surprising excursions; but there are also some negative aspects as well, like reduction in recycling and the increase in waste, increased poaching and even lone shuttering of zoo animals.

English

Objective: With the COVID-19 pandemic there was a major lockdown world-wide which halted human activity to a total pause giving rise to a new term never known previously “Anthro-pause”. During this anthro-pause there were various reports of rare animal sighting in urban areas. Some of the reports were true and some was far away from reality thus demand for detail study. Methods/findings: Man-animal conflict has resulted in mammoth destruction and aggravated mass extinction. A careful study of the pandemic driven anthro-pause has given a rare chance to study the impact of human intervention on wild life scientifically with realistic observations and data. This study will help to provide insight to address previously intractable questions like is it the urban structures or humans himself that have impacted the wild life. The learning will pave future understandings on how by minor changes to our lifestyles and transport networks can potentially have significant benefits for both ecosystems, human wildlife coexistence.

WILDLIFE CATEGORIZED as “VERMIN”: Analysis of the Wildlife Management Practices in the USA and Its Ecological Implications on Natural Ecosystems

This article emphasizes that contrary to widespread belief, indiscriminate hunting is neither a preventative nor a remedial method in reducing man–animal conflict situations. It highlights that hunting wildlife is not a sustainable or even a sound solution to man–animal conflict situations; mainly the article analyses the misaligned role played by the US regulatory bodies who seem to have lost touch with their respective statutory enactments’ principles and ideological goals. Like addressing the need for mitigating man–animal conflict situations without compromising on wildlife conservation and nature preservation.

LIVELIHOOD IN BHITARKANIKA WILDLIFE SANCTUARY, INDIA: AN IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF ECOTOURISM PRACTICES

The present study examines the livelihood impact of ecotourism policy in Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary (BKWS), Odisha, India. Results confirm that ecotourism has created several employment opportunities for the locals and the participants earn better compared to the non-participants. However, the locals suffer due to man-animal conflict and the non-participants suffer the most as farming is their major occupation. Crop damage and livestock depredation by wild animals cause a great economic loss to the villagers. The losses often result in aggravating poverty, food insecurity, additional expenses for investing on mitigating measures and consequently diminished state of socio-economic wellbeing. Thus proper measures can go a long way in founding a better relationship between the forest department and the villagers.

Degradation of forest and biodiversity in Sariska National Park, India and the responsible factors

Sariska Tiger Reserve has been in the limelight due to the extinction of its prime species tiger. It is a serious matter of concern to maintain the erstwhile rich biodiversity of the reserve. Due to illegal poaching and extensive pressure from the villagers for grazing and various forest products, man animal conflict has been growing and leading to the degradation of forest and its bio-diversity. Thus, efforts are on through reintroduction of a few tigers in the park from other forest area and gradual relocation of families from the core areas to control the degradation of pristine forest and its bio-diversity along with the improvement of the situation. This paper tries to examine the nature of degradation of forest and bio-diversity of Sariska Tiger Reserve. In addition, the reasons for the degradation have been analysed with the help of collected primary data and available secondary information.

Human-wildlife conflict and wildlife watershed management

In India, man-animal conflict is seen across the country in a variety of forms, including monkey menace in the urban areas, crop raiding by ungulates and wild pigs, depredation by elephants and cattle & human killing by tigers and leopards. Damage to agricultural crops and property, killing of livestock and human beings are some of the worst forms of man-animal conflict. One of the main challenges in and around any reserve forest area is to avoid or at least to minimize the incidences of man-animal conflict. An attempt has been made to analyze one of the main reasons (acute shortage of water in forest areas) behind such conflicts and suggest remedial measures to minimize this menace by adopting appropriate watershed management techniques.

Degradation of Forest and Biodiversity in Sariska National Park, India and the Responsible Factors

Degradation of forest resources and biodiversity of Sariska tiger reserve has become an important issue due to its severe impact on the economy of century old forest dwellers. Due to extensive pressure from the villagers for grazing and other forest products for their survival, rising man animal conflict there has been an increase in the degradation of forest and its bio-diversity leading to decline in resource base. People living in this forest depends extensively on their pastoral activities and thus on the quality of the forest directly and indirectly. Also their economy is partly dependent on the growth of tourism which is based on the flora and fauna of the reserve. This paper tries to examine the degradation of forest in Sariska Tiger Reserve and its impact on the economy of the villagers inside the reserve. Analysis of primary data and other secondary information reveals that the percentage of earning of the villagers varies from 85 to 100 per cent depending upon the level of degradation and available alternative opportunities. Their economy and sustenance has been highly affected owing to the unsustainable extraction practice and thus degradation directly and indirectly. It thus calls for suitable population relocation with appropriate compensation in the form of opportunity creation and promotion of nature based tourism to take off further pressure on this forest. Steps are necessary to regenerate the carrying capacity through improvement of resource base by participatory management.

An Analysis of Forest Diversion for Developmental Projects and Its Environmental Impact: A Case Study of Chandrapur Forest Circle in Maharashtra, India

Forest diversion is process of land use change from area under forest to non forest purposes. Once much of the surface of earth was under forest land use, but today it is a trend in every nation to divert the forest land into agriculture, industry, housing, roads, railways and many other civil as well as developmental works, consequently area under forest is reducing rapidly and it is becoming impossible to maintain 33 percent forest area as stated in National Forest Policy, 1952. It is stated in this forest policy that, if India need the balance development; it should bring 1/3 of its total geographical area and 2/3 of hilly area under forest. But till today India has not achieved this target; contrary forestlands are reducing, degrading and diverting for other developmental projects. These diversions of forest is keeping its intensive negative impact on ecological aspects including local climate, agriculture, soil, temperature, forest based employment, fertility, wildlife corridor movement, food chain, soil erosion and man-animal conflict etc. Chandrapur forest circle is a unique area regarding man animal conflict in India; it is considered as an important source region of tigers, it is also biggest forest circle of tigers in the world having more than 150 tigers. So far, the forest diversion keeps negative impact on ecology and environment in the district which should be analyze; this is an effort to establish the ecological loss due to forest diversion in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra.

Mortality in the Protected Leopard’s Population, Uttarakhand, North India: A Free-Ranging Wildlife Species in Threat

Large cats are vulnerable to local extinction in fragmented landscapes mainly due to large scope developmental and anthropogenic activities. Present study highlights the mortality of protected leopard’s population in Uttarakhand state, north-west India. In between January 2009 to October 2010, 78 leopards have died due to various reasons accounted primarily for unnatural deaths. Maximum deaths occurred in between February 2009 & April 2010 and notably 37 leopards died since January, 2010. The mortality rate for females was significantly higher than for males. Notably, 11 leopards were found dead scrambled in trap and some deaths occurred while providing treatment after rescuing the animal. In addition, 21 cases of leopard’s poaching (illegal wildlife trade) were also documented in between January 2009 to March 2010 in which 35 leopard’s skins were recovered, which highlighted that poaching is also ongoing in some remote areas. Status of man-animal conflict in Uttarakhand is severely increasing; in between November 2000 to December 2008, 180 people died in leopard’s attack, whereas 343 were injured during encounters and leopard’s attacks. On the other hand, 394 leopards died due to other reasons during the said period and 50 were declared as man-eater, which were shot dead or translocated to other protected habitat. Here, we report on the mortality in protected leopard population of Uttarakhand state and conservation status. Such reports are highly required to know the status and our competence in illustrating success and failures of wildlife rescue operations besides in conservation of an endangered wildlife.

Opportunities of Habitat Connectivity for Tiger (Panthera tigris) between Kanha and Pench National Parks in Madhya Pradesh, India

The Tiger (Panthera tigris) population in India has undergone a sharp decline during the last few years. Of the number of factors attributed to this decline, habitat fragmentation has been the most worrisome. Wildlife corridors have long been a subject of discussion amongst wildlife biologists and conservationists with contrasting schools of thought arguing their merits and demerits. However, it is largely believed that wildlife corridors can help minimize genetic isolation, offset fragmentation problems, improve animal dispersal, restore ecological processes and reduce man animal conflict. This study attempted to evaluate the possibilities of identifying a suitable wildlife corridor between two very important wildlife areas of central India – the Kanha National Park and the Pench National Park – with tiger as the focal species. Geographic Information System (GIS) centric Least Cost Path modeling was used to identify likely routes for movement of tigers. Habitat suitability, perennial water bodies, road density, railway tracks, human settlement density and total forest edge were considered as key variables influencing tiger movement across the Kanha-Pench landscape. Each of these variables was weighted in terms of relative importance through an expert consultation process. Using different importance scenarios, three alternate corridor routes were generated of which one was identified as the most promising for tiger dispersal. Weak links – where cover and habitat conditions are currently sub-optimal – were flagged on the corridor route. Interventions aimed at augmenting the identified corridor route have been suggested using accepted wildlife corridor design principles. The involvement of local communities through initiatives such as ecotourism has been stressed as a crucial long term strategy for conservation of the Kanha-Pench wildlife corridor. The results of the study indicate that restoration of the identified wildlife corridors between the two protected areas is technically feasible.

Hydrological investigations and water resources management for wildlife sanctuary in central India

The important hydrological issues in Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary (NWLS) are development of water resources, development of flora and fauna, trouble-free water availability for wildlife and retention of soil moisture for maximum forest growth. In the present study, the surface and groundwater resources of the sanctuary were estimated using water balance method. The results show that the sanctuary yields adequate runoff and groundwater recharge contributing to local aquifer system. The rivers in the sanctuary area are of an ephemeral nature which necessitates the construction of water storage structures in the sanctuary. Most of earthen dams constructed to meet wildlife water demand in the sanctuary were found to be widespread and shallow having significant leakage losses through their earthen bunds. The water-pools and springs are also the sources of water but many of them are not reliable enough to meet the water demand of wildlife. Most of the water sources are getting dried in summer season causing increasing man-animal conflict in the sanctuary.

Impact of Changing Cropping Patterns on Man-Animal Conflicts Around Gir Protected Area with Specific Reference to Talala Sub-District, Gujarat, India

We analyzed the escalating man-animal conflict due to changing cropping pattern in Talala sub-district on the periphery of Gir National Park and Sanctuary (GNPS), Gujarat, India. Sugarcane and mango cultivation has increased by 87% and 103% respectively within eight years from 1992 to 1999. Straying of lions (Panthera leo persica) and leopards (Panthera pardus) increased to 55% and 46% respectively from 1997 to 1999. Significant correlations between the increases in sugarcane cultivation and mango orchard with straying of lions (r = +0.827, df 2) and leopards (r = +0.981, df 2) were observed. From 1990 to 1998, of the total of 11 lions rescued, eight (72%) were from farmlands and of 32 leopards rescued, ten (31%) were from farmland. Ten lions (91%) and five leopards (41%) were found dead in farmlands. Thirteen lion attacks (72%) took place in farmlands, of which 10 were specifically reported, from sugarcane and mango cultivation. Fifty-nine percent of the leopard attacks (resulting in four deaths) were recorded from farmlands. Livestock kills taking place in farmland have increased by 150% within two years from 1998 to 1999. Sugarcane and groundnut cultivation in the adjoining areas also suffer from damage due to increased movement of wild ungulates and wildboar.