Technical Reports
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Item Human wildlife conflict: Assessment of Socio-psychological perspectives and actual threat from Leopard in Motichur range, Rajaji Tiger Reserve(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2019) Yadav. S.; Mohan, M.; Sandilaya, D.; Boro, P.; Sharma, A.; Sanatan, S.; Ramesh, K.As the proverbs go, “the deeper the roots, the greater the fruits” & “the devil is in the details”, for conservation management to be successful, one must look at multiple aspects and require comprehensive approach. Human-wildlife conflict is not a singular issue of management since it has wider implications and more so, in cases where species restoration in the form of conservation is involved, because social acceptance and better preparations are keys for success of such programs. In this report, information gathered from three different but linked studies carried out under the larger and long-term framework are synthesized, providing an overview of (1) socio-economic conditions and Quality of Life of people, (2) temporal landscape change and people perception on the conflict and (3) comparative status of leopard behavior in the conflict versus non-conflict zones. By studying “Quality of Life”, one can assess the impact of forest resources on the living conditions of people and vice versa. Chapter 1 shows the results of “QOL” study conducted within the villages falling under the 1 km buffer in the Eco-sensitive zone villages of Rajaji Tiger Reserve, Uttarakhand from January 2019 to June 2019. This study evaluates the socio-economic dimension of people and focused on demographic status, human dependency on utilization of forest resources and the role of people in management actions. The utilization of forest resources was found to be high in the three districts and there is hardly any participation of the people in the management inputs. The qualitative wellbeing assessment revealed that people are less satisfied with their living condition. The global environment change is increasingly forcing the already dwindled wildlife areas to be even more susceptible to disturbances. Localisation, shifting or disappearance of resources can severely impact wildlife and can even lead to local extinctions. There are many evidences to support this narrative. A study analysing the “changes in landscape” from 1995 to 2018 was also undertaken, which showed an increase in barrenness. Because “Human-Wildlife Conflict” explicitly revolves around the costs of sharing land with dangerous wild animals, it is important to understand the patterns of landscape change. While highlighting the landscape changes over a 20 years period, the second study also focused on the damages done by wild animals, the compensatory schemes, and most importantly the perception of people about wild animals. Though one can never truly eradicate human-wildlife conflict completely, any conflict is a situation of paramount importance to be solved, because any conservation effort does require the support of public at large, particularly the local people who share the space with wildlife. Any spike or change in trend of conflict requires further investigation not for the sole reason saving human fatalities but also for building better human relationships between wildlife managers and public. Since 2014, Motichur range of Rajaji Tiger Reserve has experienced 31 attacks on humans by the resident leopard (Panthera pardus) population. It resulted in 19 human deaths and grievous injuries to 12 people. The epicenter of the conflict is the space surrounding national highway 58, connecting the cities of Rishikesh and Haridwar. Rajaji forest department has been deploying camera traps in the conflict space to reckon the leopard movement patterns and to circle out any suspect animals responsible for the conflict. We intensified the camera trap study focusing on entire Motichur range (excluding the conflict locations) from November 2018 to February 2019. In addition, we visited each conflict site with the forest department officials, and collected information on various attributes related to the site. We found an extremely high leopard count for the winters i.e. 47, with a very high density of 45 animals per 100 square kilometers. We listed down the most suspected leopards involved in conflict based on 3-point criteria. The results of our work will increase our understanding of the adaptability of leopards. The results also reiterate the imperative to shift from a PA centric to a landscape level conservation approach, analyzing the source and drivers of conflicts, including the carrying capacity analysis. There is also an urgent need to include engage communities more closely and develop a short-term and long-term conservation programs.Item Patterns of Human-Wildlife Conflict in Chandrapur, Maharashtra, India(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2022) Habib, B.; Nigam, P.; Praveen, N.R.; Ravindran, A.Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) is the negative interaction between human or human property and wildlife and is a growing cause for concern among conservationists and scientists globally. Although HWC is a global phenomenon, there are certain differences in its manifestation as well as magnitude in developed versus developing nations. Developed regions of the world exhibit lower levels of direct dependence on forest ecosystems and their resources, as well as exclusionary management of the wildlife habitats. India, being a developing nation, is witness to an increasing intensity of human-carnivore conflict due to the fast-shrinking percentage of forest cover, that act as natural habitats of many carnivore species, due to a combination of factors including human population explosion, agricultural expansion, and large-scale developmental activities, leading to fragmentation and destruction of forest cover all across the country. The Central Indian Landscape (CIL) is one of the regions of high tiger populations and density in India with 6 Tiger Reserves featuring heavily as source populations, including Tadoba Andhari, Pench, Kanha, Satpura, and Melghat Tiger Reserves. But there is a disproportionate decline in forest cover as well as quality, which means that even though the populations of large carnivores are thriving, there isn’t enough pristine forest to support their growing numbers. This eventually leads to a spill-over of the carnivores into surrounding human-dominated landscapes (HDL). This acts as one of the major reasons for the burgeoning number of conflict cases between humans and large carnivores. The Vidarbha Landscape (VL) of the state of Maharashtra is facing a similar decline in forest cover leading to an increase in conflict cases. Records of conflict incidents were collected from the Greater Tadoba Landscape (GTL) which covers the divisions of Brahmapuri, Chandrapur & Central Chanda, along with the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), in the Chandrapur Circle. Using these records, hotspots of livestock depredation and attacks on humans were mapped using a hotspot analysis tool in ArcGIS. Various scientific and non-scientific methods continue to be tested to slow down the increasing rate of HWC across the world. One of the major hurdles in the implementation of a universal mitigation method to curb the number and impact of HWC is the heavy influence of local factors including topography, vegetation, and human demography of the region. This requires an intensive study of the patterns and causes of conflict in a given region. Studying conflict hotspots and understanding the emerging spatial and temporal patterns is a quintessential step in the process of mitigating the HWC of any landscape. An important step in that direction is the establishment of a comprehensive database, which can be used for trend analysis and predictions. The hot spot analysis of human-carnivore conflict for tigers, leopards, and sloth bears enables visualization of the spatial distribution of events of attacks on humans as well as livestock depredation by each species, hence aiding in the development of site-specific management strategies to mitigate the effects of human-carnivore conflictItem Knowledge support to development of guidelines, Specialized field studies and training on Human wildlife conflict mitigation in India, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2022) WIIThe primary aim of the project was knowledge support to development of guidelines, specialized field studies and training on Human Wildlife Conflict mitigation in India. In order to achieve this aim, the following measures were planned: (a) Supporting the development of national strategy and action plan & SOPs, leading the state-level HWC mitigation guidelines for Uttarakhand, and supporting in Karnataka and West Bengal, in a participatory manner engaging all key stakeholders. (b) Support to MoEFCC on database on human wildlife conflict in India. (c) Specialized field studies and pilot measures at the project pilot sites in Karnataka, West Bengal and Uttarakhand. (d) Implementation of training and other capacity development measures engaging key stakeholdersItem Population management of species involved in human wildlife conflict,(Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, 2023) Qureshi, Q.; Mulia, S.K.; Kawlni, L.; Kolipakam, V.; Gusain, P.; Hussain, K.; Jhala, Y.V.Reproductive control methods using contraceptives have been described using terms such as “humane” or “benign”, and has steadily gained wide acceptance within the conservation community, managers and policy makers alike. Thus, to investigate the field applicability of reproductive control in conflict mitigation, a project titled “Population Management of Species involved in Human Wildlife Conflict” was awarded to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) by The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, New Delhi on dated 30th January, 2018. The project aims to develop and implement a range of mitigation strategies including immune-contraception for managing conflict with wild animal populations in the country. For the study, four focal species as identified by the MoEF&CC, Govt of India namely Rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta), Nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus), Wild pig (Sus scrofa) and Elephant (Elephas maximus) were selected for the trials at specific sites experiencing severe conflict from above species.