Elephants as actors in the political ecology of human. Humanwildlife conflict in awf heartlands conflicts between human and wildlife have been extensively documented in the various awf heartlands, including. Conflict between humans and elephants have become an important issue for conservationists over the last two decades. Humanelephant conflict hec occurs when people and wildlife compete for space and resources. Humanelephant conflict hec is dramatically on the rise and has become one of the major issues in the fight to save asias endangered elephants. Prevention strategies endeavour to avoid the conflict occurring in the first place and take action towards addressing its root causes. A variety of management strategies have been developed and are practiced at different scales for preventing and mitigating humanelephant conflict. Humanelephant conflict mitigation measures iucn portals. Guidelines on the better management practices for the mitigation and management of humanelephant conflict in and around oilpalm plantations in indonesia and malaysia, version 1. Hec causes crop and property loss and occasionally results in the death of both humans and elephants in nepal. African elephant, conservation, humanelephant conflict, kenya, nonhuman, political ecology 1 introduction a camera trap is installed facing an electric fence in northern kenya. An assessment of the humanelephant conflict in sri lanka article pdf available in ceylon journal of science biological sciences 391. Two of the primary examples of conflict in africa are humanpredator lions, leopards, cheetahs, etc.
This is mainly due to expanding human populations and the continued loss of natural habitats. On average 225 elephants have been killed by farmers annually since 2008 and elephants have killed about 6080 people. In the past 10 years, 372 people have been killed by elephants in assam talukdar, 2010. Examining humanelephant conflict in southern africa.
Humanelephant conflict poses a major threat to elephants in many parts of asia, including sri lanka. Humans and elephants, through a combination of crop raiding and exploitation, have shaped each others distributions for centuries. Pdf perceptions and patterns of humanelephant conflict. Pdf an assessment of the humanelephant conflict in sri. Human elephant conflict in sri lanka submitted by archiver on wed, 10102018 04. Willingness to pay for mitigating humanelephant conflict. Human elephant conflict in sri lanka elephant country. In the case of elephant and man we have one of the best examples known of two superficially dissimilar animals sharing common biological needs, and therefore competing vigorously whenever they contact each other. Depredation in human settlements is another major area of human elephant conflict occurring in small forest pockets, encroachments into elephant habitat, and on elephant migration routes. The search for effective measures to deal with humanelephant conflict is one of the most significant challenges for elephant management. This agricultural community is located in the northeast region of jhapa district and is the principal point of entry for elephants from west bengal, india. Pdf human elephant conflict nyumba tobbie academia. Predicting spatial aspects of humanelephant conflict.
Causes and options for coexistence abstract though african elephants loxodonta africana are listed as endangered by the international union for theconservation of nature and natural resources iucn, efforts to protect and conserve the species have been. People complain that elephants destroy their home gardens and their vegetable gardens. The number of wild african elephants loxodonta africana at. Understanding humanelephant conflict hec is important in many. In the kenya portion of the ecosystem the maasai mara and surrounding areas, people and wildlife peacefully coexisted for years when space for both. Human elephant conflict humanelephant conflict hec is dramatically on the rise and has become one of the major issues in the fight to save asias endangered elephants. At the same time, many poor farmers havent changed their daily lives for hundreds of years but their crops and villages are being threatened. Guidelines on the better management practices human. An assessment of humanelephant interactions, elephant corridors, and community attitudes around ruaha national park, tanzania. A gps collar on one of the elephants and reports from. Humanelephant conflict hec is a complex interaction between humans and. Over the last 100 years, african elephant populations have declined from 35 million to 470,000690,000 and asian elephant populations have declined from 100,000 to between 35,000 and 50,000. Mitigation requires a detailed understanding of underlying patterns and processes.
Humanelephant conflict humans and elephants, through a combination of cropraiding and exploitation, have shaped each others distributions for centuries. However, humanelephant conflict remains pervasive as the majority of existing prevention strategies are driven by sitespecific factors that only offer shortterm. Human elephant conflict in the wazalogone region of. Humanwildlife conflict management humanwildlife conflict can be managed through a variety of approaches. In fact in most countries cross the asian elephants range it has replace poaching as the major human cause of elephant mortality. Protection strategies are implemented when the conflict is certain to happen or has already occurred. However, for the purpose of this project, the use of the term hec will imply the detrimental impact that elephants have on. Humanelephant conflict mitigation mara elephant project. Habitat is shrinking daily and humans are encroaching on the territory of elephants. In g eneral, tr aditi onal m eth ods ar e easy to use, have low costs an d ar e m or e effective at low levels o f confli ct. An attempt was made to quantify the level of threat posed by different problem animals, the significance of human elephant conflict hec in the household economy, and the conservation attitude among respondents. Human wildlife conflict management human wildlife conflict can be managed through a variety of approaches.
Immediate response to humanelephant conflict incidents has become a routine cru activity in the area. In many parts of the world, people and animals are increasingly coming into conflict over living space and food. Developing effective prevention and mitigation plans for human wildlife conflicts is a top conservation priority in many areas of the world, including china where the conversion of tropical forests to rubber plantations is threatening critical populations of the asian elephant elephas maximus. However, the destruction of crops by elephants is the major concern. Humanelephant conflict is not a new phenomenon and cropraiding has been taking place for centuries. Humanelephant conflict hec is a complex interaction between humans and elephants, and represents the detrimental impact both species have on each other. Elephants are responsible for more than 40% of the humanwildlife conflict, 70% of the wildlife.
Human elephant conflict humans and elephants, through a combination of cropraiding and exploitation, have shaped each others distributions for centuries. As a tropical continent with substantial anthropogenic development, the africa is a hotspot for biodiversity and therefore, for humanwildlife conflict. In addition to elephant casualties, more than 10% of the households surveyed have had human casualties injury or death during the past 5 years. Pdf humanelephant conflict is a major conservation concern in elephant range countries.
Until a few years ago, elephants summering in the upper reaches as high as 3,300 m. Humanelephant conflict is a significant problem in africa, undermining biodiversity conservation and development efforts. The pattern of humanelephant conflict, as expected, is intermittent. Human elephant conflict is not a new phenomenon and cropraiding has been taking place for centuries. Wellbeing impacts of humanelephant conflict in khumaga. Thouless skip to main content accessibility help we use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Humanelephant conflict is broadly defined as any interaction that results in negative effects on human, social, economic, or cultural life, on elephant conservation, or on the environment parker et al. Humanelephant conflicts hec arise with complex interactions between humans and elephants often resulting in detrimental impacts for both species. Humanelephant conflict is a major conservation concern in elephant. Humanelephant conflict hec has created detrimental impacts to the residents of bahundangi in eastern nepal. However, humanelephant conflict remains pervasive as the majority of existing prevention strategies are driven by sitespecific. Predicting hotspots of humanelephant conflict to inform.
As a result of trending human population and changes in land use. In fact in most countries across the asian elephants range, it has replaced poaching as the major human cause of elephant mortality. Humanelephant conflict hec is a complex and pervasive problem that occurs throughout the range of the african elephant wherever elephants and people share the same habitat, often competing for the same resources. Humanelephant conflict hec in africa occurs wherever these two species coincide, and poses serious challenges to wildlife managers, local communities and elephants alike. Asian elephants elephas maximus are an endangered species and humanelephant conflict hec is the major threat to their survival. As prime elephant habitats are shrinking across asia and human developments are on the rise, both species are increasingly coming into close contact. Approaches to studying and mitigating conflict, however, are narrowly focused on visible impacts such. Analysis of normalised difference vegetation index ndvi between january 1973 and april 2008 showed that intensity of conflict was low when the level of vegetation was high. Humanelephant conflict is a major conservation concern in elephant range countries. Human elephant conflict is a significant problem in africa, undermining biodiversity conservation and development efforts. Elephanthuman conflict poses a grave threat to their continued existence. Elephants are extremely important to botswanas national economy. Elephanthuman conflict is a result of habitat loss and fragmentation.
It would be erroneous to consider only the facts and figures of hec while addressing solutions for mitigating conflict. Conflict between humans and elephants on private land in northern kenya volume 28 issue 2 chris r. Funding this report is made possible by the generous support of the american people through the united states agency for. Identifying reasons of occurrence 93 hec should, therefore, no longer be treated as isolated and disconnected from national and international social and political debates. Human elephant conflicts occur when elephants raid crops of shifting cultivators in fields, which are scattered over a large area interspersed with forests. Land conflicts may be the greatest longterm threat to elephant conservation because as people and elephants inhabit the same areas and share scarce resources, there will be more pressure to encroach on elephant habitat for human uses, and this will get worse as human populations continue to grow. We studied humanelephant conflict in two areas with contrasting scenarios of landuse and conflict, kahalle and yala. Humanelephant conflicts occur when elephants raid crops of shifting cultivators in fields, which are scattered over a large area interspersed with forests. Studies on conflict between elephants and humans in asia and in africa have identified crop raiding as the main form of conflict. The escalation of humanelephant conflict in the past few decades and technological advances have resulted in d evelopm ent of ad diti onal m eth ods to ad dress th e pr oblem. Depredation in human settlements is another major area of humanelephant conflict occurring in small forest pockets, encroachments into elephant habitat, and on elephant migration routes.
Humanelephant conflict in botswana is further driven by the political climate in which it is situated. A case study in chunati wildlife sanctuary, bangladesh come to the villages as well as to the fields. Early warning of crop raiding and a coordinated response from. Humanelephant conflict was a major cause of increasing poverty levels and. Humanelephant conflict hec is a significant problem in nepal, with approximately twothirds of households being impacted by elephants elephas maximus, particularly during the winter. The impacts are widespread on agricultural lands, household livelihoods, personal property, and. Humanwildlife conflict hwc is fast becoming a critical threat to the survival of many globally endangered species, in particular to large and rare mammals such as the sumatran tiger panthera tigris sumatrae and the asian lion panthera leo persica, but also to less endangered species such as the snow leopard uncia uncia and the red colobus monkey procolocus kirkii. Human elephant conflict is broadly defined as any interaction that results in negative effects on human, social, economic, or cultural life, on elephant conservation, or on the environment parker et al. An assessment of the humanelephant conflict in sri lanka.
Humanelephant conflict, and particularly crop raiding, is a perennial problem in both africa and asia. Habitat loss and conflict with people are among the biggest threats to. The fence is supposed to prevent elephants from leaving conservancy land to raid crops on smallholder farms. The issue of human elephant conflict has differentiated temporal and spatial patterns in many places, but some general trends include it is. The human elephant conflict is a term that defines a growing problem in asia.
Depredation of livestock by african predators is well documented in kenya, namibia. Managing human elephant conflict o establishment of barriers trenches 255 km, beehives 8,850, electric fence, board walk o supporting community livelihoods chilli and other high value crops o building community capacity 879 community scouts o awareness o scare shooting uwa needs to know reasons for the increasing cases despite the. Human elephant conflict can take many forms 9 including the direct killing of elephants by people. Human dimensions of humanelephant conflict in botswana. Teams respond as needed, often driving wild elephants back into the forest using the camp elephants, and recording detailed assessments of any site damage. Habitat loss and conflict with people are among the biggest threats to their continued survival. Towards humanelephant coexistence in the ruaha ecosystem.
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