Navigating “Human Wildlife Conflict” situations from the individual's perspective

Information on the spatial and temporal patterns of losses caused by leopard (Panthera pardus) in terms of human attacks and livestock depredation in the human-dominated landscape of the mid-hills of Nepal is essential in formulating and implementing effective mitigation measures. This study aimed to assess the spatial and temporal patterns of leopard attacks on humans and livestock and the economic losses incurred by livestock depredation between 2015 and 2019 in the Bhanu municipality of Tanahun District. We adopted a household survey (N = 110), key informant (N = 10), and focus group discussion (N = 4) for this study. We purposively chose two conflict wards: 2 and 4, based on the severity of the attacks by the leopard. Within each ward, we selected the households randomly and conducted a semistructured questionnaire survey in September 2020. A total of 8 incidents of human attacks and 142 incidents of livestock depredation were recorded, with six human casualties in ward 2 and 1.45 incidents of livestock depredation per household in ward 4. The maximum attack was observed during 2019 both on humans (n = 6) and livestock (n = 67). Leopards mostly attacked children below 9 years, living within 200 m of the nearest forest edge, with the highest attack during the autumn months (62.5%). During the five years, leopard killed goats that represent 83.1% of total livestock loss categories. A significant difference was found in the frequency of attacks on livestock over the years (χ2 = 87.60, df = 4, and 
 
 P
 ≤
 0.01
 
 ), months (χ2 = 16.53, df = 11, and 
 
 P
 =
 0.12
 
 ), and time of day (χ2 = 48.47, df = 3, and 
 
 P
 ≤
 0.001
 
 ) with the highest attack during the year 2019 (47.18%), July (14.08%), and daytime (42.96%), respectively. Households living nearer to the forest edge (<200 m) lost more livestock (72.54%). The monetary value of a total of 8142 USD (74 USD per household) was lost due to livestock depredation, with major monetary loss at a distance >400 m from the forest edge. We suggest adopting mitigation measures like predator-proof livestock corals while stall feeding and strengthening conscientious livestock herding practices during grazing, encouraging livestock insurance schemes, educating local communities about leopard behavior, caring for and protecting children intensively in the leopard attack sites, improving the prey base in the wild, and timely management of man-eater leopard to reduce the conflict in the study area and the country.

/pdf/an-emerging-issue-of-human-leopard-conflict-in-the-human-rvdl4ato.pdf

An Emerging Issue of Human-Leopard Conflict in the Human-Dominated Landscape of Mid-Hills: A Case Study from Tanahun District of Nepal

Abstract: Human-wildlife conflict has been one of the most trouble-causing issues in many areas of Nepal including Eastern Nepal. This study assessed the human-wildlife conflict status in Paschim Kusaha Village of Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve (KTWR), Sunsari District, Nepal. Data were collected from 47 respondents of different households through questionnaire surveys and formal and informal interviews. Results revealed that the most destructive wild animals were wild elephants, wild boar, and wild water buffalo and the most raided crops were paddy (63.83 %), maize (19.15%), and potato (17.02%). Most of the encounters between humans and wildlife were recorded at night (after dusk and before dawn) (78.72%). Local people were suffering from damage of physical properties, human harassment or nuisance, and depredation of cropland due to wild animals. A total of 70% of respondents had a positive attitude towards conservation despite disturbing human mortality records (22 deaths in the last five years) from the reserve area and surrounding. Awareness of wildlife behavior together with conservation and easy access to compensation schemes were suggested to minimize conflicts in the area.

/pdf/human-wildlife-conflicts-in-paschim-kusaha-village-of-koshi-1rib9fua.pdf

Human-Wildlife Conflicts in Paschim Kusaha Village of Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Sunsari District, Nepal

All development indices are changing due to increased exploitation of nature and growing economies in developing countries. This situation may increase the intensity of conflict between humans and wild species, such as large carnivores. Despite the increasing intensity of human-wildlife conflicts and the existing compensation scheme that compensates for the loss, most losses to human-wildlife conflicts are not reported to authorities. Thus, this study was conducted in the Banke National Park of Nepal to explore possible factors influencing the propensity to report losses. All 197 surveyed participants reported suffering from crop raids by wild animals, and 80 respondents (40.60%) reported livestock depredation. Results revealed that socio-economic factors, such as age (β=1.99, SE=1.61), gender (β=-0.56, SE=0.28), employment (β=-1.10, SE=0.68), family size (β=1.54, SE=0.54), and conflict with certain species including Bengal tiger (β=0.48, SE 0.24), leopard (β=0.92, SE 0.35), elephant (β=0.58, SE 0.34), and monkey (β=0.56, SE 0.27), were statistically significant at p values ≤ 0.01, ≤ 0.05, and ≤ 0.10, in influencing the likelihood of reporting a loss. Except for gender and employment, all other factors positively influenced the likelihood of reporting a loss. These findings could be considered while formulating/executing policy guidelines for compensation or any policy related to protected areas to improve reporting rates. This study can also initiate future studies in other protected or forested areas globally. 

Human-Wildlife Conflict and the Likelihood of Reporting Losses in Nepal

Anthropogenic climate change can have a negative impact on the distribution of habitat specialist species with narrow distributional ranges. Among the many areas around the world affected by climate change, the Himalayan region in particular is experiencing marked effects of global warming on its climatic patterns and life forms. This study assessed the current distribution of Assamese macaques ( Macaca assamensis ) in western Nepal, and projected their likely distribution (via habitat suitability modeling) for the years 2050 and 2070 under the two most plausible greenhouse gas emission scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP6.0). We recorded a total of 159 Assamese macaques belonging to 10 groups (nine of them residing outside of protected area networks) between 684m and 2550m asl in western Nepal. Climatic niche modeling predicted that 37.03% (25,114 km 2 ) of the total area of western Nepal (67,813 km 2 ) represented suitable habitat of the species, the majority of which ranged between 1000 m and 2000 m asl. Future projections of the current climatic niche of the Assamese macaques revealed a consistent decrease in the suitable habitat for 2050 and 2070 in both of the greenhouse emission scenarios tested. With the RCP6.0 scenario, almost 57% of the current highly suitable habitat would be lost by 2070 with remaining suitable habitat shifted towards higher elevations. The loss of habitat directly affects the species survival and the range shift towards higher elevation exposes them to new areas for conflict with humans. Therefore, the Assamese macaque population in western Nepal requires a high conservation priority with the establishment of new protected areas. 

pdf/projected-distribution-of-the-westernmost-subpopulation-of-qkj8g63rrz.pdf

Projected distribution of the westernmost subpopulation of Assamese macaques (Macaca assamensis pelops) under climate change: conservation implications of a threatened population

/pdf/assessment-of-human-wildlife-conflict-in-kailali-district-of-4i64hnvfqo.pdf

Assessment of human-wildlife conflict in Kailali district of Nepal

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Assessment of human-wildlife conflict in Kailali district of Nepal