Elephanthuman conflict poses a grave threat to their continued existence. 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. Humanelephant conflict poses a major threat to elephants in many parts of asia, including sri lanka. Dec 11, 2017 from convincing people about the importance of this gentle giant listed in the iucn red data book could reduce the human elephant conflict.
Perceptions and patterns of humanelephant conflict in old. Participatory community education to mitigate human elephant conflict in botswana jill zarestky, ph. Human conflict with african and asian elephants and associated conservation dilemmas lynette a. Survey report on elephant movement, humanelephant conflict. Those who did not file reports at all explained that damages were not extensive. The ecofriendly bus service which was introduced to wasgamuwa could be considered as a great example of simple ways to resolve the human elephant conflict. 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.
As human and elephant populations grow in kenya so does human elephant conflict. Guidelines on the better management practices human. A case study in chunati wildlife sanctuary, bangladesh md. Habitat is shrinking daily and humans are encroaching on the territory of elephants. Understanding spatial and temporal patterns of humanelephant conflict in assam, india. A case study in chunati wildlife sanctuary, bangladesh come to the villages as well as to the fields. It was acknowledged that data on status and distribution needed to be updated urgently. By 2002, at least 50% of the prime elephant habitat in the region was lost choudhury, 2002b and humanelephant conflicts became commonplace. Human elephant conflict human elephant conflict hec is dramatically on the rise and has become one of the major issues in the fight to save asias endangered elephants. 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. Poaching, but to a lesser extent than for the african elephant though reliable estimates of the number killed are scarce. There should be a clear and succinct definition of human elephant conflict prior t o laying out a set of principals of human elephant conflict.
Illegal killing and trade in elephant products were also identified as major threats. Humanelephant conflict hec occurs when people and wildlife compete for space and resources. Human conflict with african and asian elephants and. Understanding drivers of humanleopard conflicts in the. Humanelephant conflict hec is a complex and pervasive problem that. Teams respond as needed, often driving wild elephants back into the forest using the camp elephants, and recording detailed assessments of any site damage. Understanding humanelephant conflict hec is important in many countries where solutions to escalating conflicts are urgently required 24.
Most activities conducted to safe guard crops and to mitigate the humanelephant conflict have been d eveloped alm ost en tir ely fr om th e poin t of vi ew o f human n eeds. In 2011, we began collaborating to find ways to tackle the root causes of hec. 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. Human elephant 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. In particular, knowledge of the spatial and temporal patterns of conflict can help governments and civil organizations to design more effective mitigation plans, based on reliable forecasts and maps. Politically motivated developments by the mid 1990s, however, heightened the level of encroachment. The asian elephants and associated humanelephant conflict in. Pdf humanelephant conflict is a major conservation concern in elephant. The effects of tactile and visual deterrents on honey badger. Hence, it is not surprising this area represents a hec hotspot in the region. We analysed a 3year dataset of elephant occurrence and related instances of humanelephant conflict, from two sites in assam, and explored the relationships between the various effects of elephants on human communities and factors influencing the spatial and temporal occurrence of these effects proximity to water, refuge areas and villages.
Approaches to studying and mitigating conflict, however, are narrowly focused on visible impacts such. 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. The problems that farmers experience do to cropraiding and other types of humanelephant conflicts include the direct effects of lost livelihood and income and indirect. It is important to summarize what has emerged from previous studies in order to achieve the objective of the present initiative. Humanelephant conflict hec is dramatically on the rise and has become one of the major issues in the fight to save asias endangered elephants. A threat to these beehives are the honey badgers mellivora capensis who try to obtain honey, causing damage to the. Elephant crop raiding is one of the most relevant forms of humanelephant conflict hec in africa. Humanelephant conflict or hec is a complex challenge for elephants and people in many parts of africa. Elephant human conflict is a result of habitat loss and fragmentation. The focal points of hec are usually the edges of protected areas hart and oconnell, 1998 in nelson et al. Side by side, for habitat improvement, plantation of fodder and shade tree and establishment of salt lick have been carried out.
Working towards coordinated regional approaches in human. Here, i examine the intensity of hec and poaching near protected area borders. View human elephant conflict research papers on academia. An assessment of humanelephant conflict in the western serengeti. View humanelephant conflict research papers on academia. Hec is on the rise as the space in the mara diminishes and the population continues to increase. Sri lanka annually documents over 70 human and 200 elephant. Humanelephant conflict and poaching are concentrated around protected area borders. Humanelephant conflict mitigation measures iucn portals. In fact in most countries across the asian elephants range, it has replaced poaching as the major human cause of elephant mortality. Case study from tamil nadu 447 use of s earch light served as a mitigating factor to avoid elephant intrusion into the villages from the nearby forest areas. The form was modified to include other wildlife species responsible for crop damage.
Humanelephant conflict humanelephant conflict hec occurs because humans and elephants have overlapping interests. For example today human elephant conflict has transcendent from being a purely wildlife management problem to one of the biggest socio. In northern botswana, conflict between subsistence farmers and elephants can result in destroyed agricultural crops and death for both species. Human killing is the decisive and most critical expression of humanleopard conflict and needs to be addressed sensitively to maintain local support for leopard conservation in india. Humanelephant conflict hec will always exist if human and elephants are to share the same landscape hec cannot be eliminated, just reduced crop raiding opportunistic easier to manage survival virtually impossible to manage without addressing root cause need to distinguish between opportunistic raiding and. Climate influences on humanelephant conflicts in sri lanka.
From june 2006 to september 2008 all farms that reported the occurrence. Do chillies help deter elephants from entering crop fields. Humanelephant conflict hec is a complex and pervasive problem that occurs throughout the range of the african elephant wherever elephants and people share the. Understanding the nature and extent of humanelephant conflict in.
In fact in most countries cross the asian elephant s range it has replace poaching as the major human cause of elephant mortality. Serviceproviders of elephant conservation can be direct beneficiaries of reduced hec. In eight out of the nine provinces in the country, this conflict between man and beast has killed a staggering number of 75 people and 4225 elephants since the 1950s. Aug 25, 2019 the human elephant conflict is a term that defines a growing problem in asia. Northern botswana holds the largest population of african elephants in the world, and in the eastern okavango panhandle, 16,000 people share and compete for resources with more than 11,000 elephants. H high m medium l low u unknown annual precipitation high. 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. Elephanthuman conflict is a result of habitat loss and fragmentation. An elephantine challenge human elephant conflict distribution in the largest asian elephant population, southern india sanjay gubbi biodiversity conservation. An assessment of humanelephant conflict in the western. Studies on conflict between elephants and humans in asia and in africa have identified crop raiding as the main form of conflict.
Predicting hotspots of humanelephant conflict to inform. One of the most substantial contributors to this conflict, the cropraiding behavior of elephants loxodonta africana, is alleviated through the use of elephants and bee projects beehive fences. Muthiani, all staff of the tsavo research station, assisted in many aspects of the fieldwork, and persevered through many hot days and dangerous situations. In fact in most countries cross the asian elephants range it has replace poaching as the major human cause of elephant mortality. As human and elephant populations grow in kenya so does humanelephant conflict.
A payment for ecosystem services program t o support elephant conservation and reduce human elephant conflict in thailand. Human elephant conflicts occur when elephants raid crops of shifting cultivators in fields, which are scattered over a large area interspersed with forests. Lessons from awfs african heartlands introduction in the developed world potentially dangerous megafauna have largely been exterminated as a result of the. Human killing is the decisive and most critical expression of human leopard conflict and needs to be addressed sensitively to maintain local support for leopard conservation in india. The range states identified habitat loss and fragmentation, and the resultant humanelephant conflict as the biggest threats to elephant conservation. The asian elephants and associated human elephant conflict in southeastern bangladesh. Analysis of crop damage in lolkisale, naitolia and. At the same time, many poor farmers havent changed their daily lives for hundreds of years but their crops and villages are being threatened.
Humanelephant conflict needs more international exposure. Building on iucn bangladeshs experiences on similar conflict mitigation, unhcr and iucn have agreed to work together to minimize humanelephant conflict. Iucn international union for conservation of nature, dhaka, bangladesh, pp. The humanelephant conflict mitigation is therefore an urgent issue requiring immediate resolution. Much of the work in other parts of the world to date had focused on the aftereffects of conflict and on. Some activities such as elephant translocation and range restriction with barriers, though usually. The pattern of humanelephant conflict, as expected, is intermittent. This book briefly documents nine mitigation technologies and captures the lessons. The following analyses are closely relevant to the broader goal of. However, friction between humans and elephants termed humanelephant conflict hec occurring mainly over space and manifesting in seasonal raids in.
Building on iucn bangladeshs experiences on similar conflict mitigation, unhcr and iucn have agreed to work together to minimize humanelephant conflict in and around the kutupalong camp area of coxs bazar. Understanding spatial and temporal patterns of human. This research was undertaken to investigate the ecological aspects of human killing and injury, spatial characteristic and pattern of such sites, temporal and seasonal trends of attacks and perception of local. Oconnell center for animals in society in the school of veterinary medicine and ecology graduate group, respectively, at the university of california, davis, 95616 usa. Scalingup the use of chili fences for reducing human. Humanelephant conflict mitigation iucn ssc humanwildlife. The humanelephant conflict is the second most frequently reported disaster in sri lanka, responsible for the deaths of around 160 elephants and 50 humans annually. Catastrophic poaching in the 1970s and 80s saw their populations plummet to a mere fraction of pre 1970s numbers. In june of 2016, students and faculty mentors from. Understanding humanelephant conflict hec is important in many countries where. Kahalle was developed and settled under the mahaweli irrigation project and the main agricultural practice was irrigated agriculture, with two annual growing seasons. Immediate response to humanelephant conflict incidents has become a routine cru activity in the area. Humanelephant conflict and poaching are reduced under communitybased conservation schemes.
Veterinary science, wildlife science, human elephant conflict, case study, mitigation, elephants abstract. The elephant in the room poaching, conflict, and communities. Humanelephant conflicts hec arise with complex interactions between humans and elephants often resulting in detrimental impacts for both species. Guidelines on the better management practices humanelephant. The asian elephants and associated humanelephant conflict in southeastern bangladesh. 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. When elephants and humans interact, there is conflict from crop raiding, injuries and deaths to humans caused by elephants, and elephants being killed by humans for reasons other than ivory and habitat degradation. Jahidul kabir abstract elephant habitat conservation and human elephant conflict management are major issues for chunati wildlife sanctuary cws. The humanelephant conflict iucn asian elephant specialist group. In northern botswana, conflict between subsistence farmers and elephants can result in. Development of locallyapplicable humanelephant conflict mitigation methods in rural cambodia and conservation capacity building for national project managers initiated 2005 only in the past two years has humanelephant con.
Th e impact o f su ch activiti es on elephan ts has been rarely studied. The workshop was arranged by conservation international, as part of its ongoing programme of support to the reduction of conflict between elephants and people, for improved food security, and. Establishment of a humanelephant conflict response network in cambodia. People complain that elephants destroy their home gardens and their vegetable gardens. As prime elephant habitats are shrinking across asia and human developments are on the rise, both species are increasingly coming into close contact. Wellbeing impacts of humanelephant conflict in khumaga.
Most activities conducted to safe guard crops and to mitigate the human elephant conflict have been d eveloped alm ost en tir ely fr om th e poin t of vi ew o f human n eeds. Habitat loss and conflict with people are among the biggest threats to their continued survival. Humanelephant conflict mitigation mara elephant project. An effective international ivory trade ban implemented by cites in 1989 combined with improved.
Examining humanelephant conflict in southern africa. The broad definition of humanelephant conflict abbreviated hec throughout this document adopted by the iucnssc african elephant specialist group afesg is any humanelephant interaction which results in negative effects on human social, economic or cultural life, on. The african elephant is perhaps the most iconic migratory land mammal on the continent. Lessons from awfs african heartlands introduction in the developed world potentially dangerous megafauna have largely been exterminated as a result of the spread of agriculture, growth of human populations and. In india, the increase in population of elephant with no increase in forest area poses danger to the farmers of both small scale subsistence agriculture and international agribusiness. 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. The effects of tactile and visual deterrents on honey. In serengeti district to the west of the serengeti national park. In the southern region, human elephant conflict is high in monaragala district and eastern part of the hambantota district. The asian elephants and associated humanelephant conflict. We studied humanelephant conflict in two areas with contrasting scenarios of landuse and conflict, kahalle and yala.
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