Management of human wildlife interaction and invasive species in India

Abstract

Human – carnivore conflict is perceived as one of the most negative interactions in wildlife and humans, owing to the direct loss of human life associated with the presence of carnivore. Tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, wolf, dhole and bear are the most conflict related species. Studies on conflict related to tiger, lion, snow leopard and leopard are available while that for wolf, dhole and bear are rarely conducted. Owing to the conservation value of tiger and lion, guidelines and policies have been centered to the conflict related to these flagship species. In almost all the cases, management system has guaranteed economic compensation. Standard operating protocol (SOP) is developed for identifying and removing an individual that has repeatedly reported in conflict with humans. As few of these carnivores need healthy habitat and ample prey species for their sustenance, co-existence with increasing human pressure seems distinct from the present facts. Thus, in order to minimize the negative interaction, it is essential to relocate human settlement from the protected areas inhabited by these species. Attack by leopard on humans is amongst the major conflict cases. As leopard and snow leopard also inhabit in areas dominated by humans, it is of immense importance to amplify the social carrying capacity through awareness camps and increasing the vigilance during peak activity time of a species in the shared area. Frequency of conflicts associated to leopard in human dominated areas has triggered concern about the sustenance of these species, as shown by recent series of studies invested on subject. Results of these studies were adapted to form guidelines in order to avoid and mitigate the conflict issue and the SOP is being developed for conflict scenario management. In all the cases of carnivore conflict, economic compensation has helped to elevate the social carrying capacity. Hence, timely facilitating the desired amount of compensation can reduce the negative perception associated with conflict case. In case of snow leopard, the medical and life insurance policy has helped in building positive perception towards snow leopard conservation. However, such solutions are possible by joint efforts from multiple sectors and active participation of governmental agencies; and hence should be considered for managing conflict of other species as well. Human - Herbivore conflicts are mainly centered towards the loss of agricultural crops. These losses are high if the crop fields are present around Protected Areas or in the forest used by herbivores involved in conflict. Nilgai, Wild pig, Elephant and Black buck are ranked as species with highest conflict records owing to their vast distribution across India and habitat overlap with human settlements. While conflict caused by Rhino and Wild ass though restricted in few parts of the country, is similar conflict case. Particularly, in case of elephants, agricultural fields are used as corridors for colonizing or moving across adjacent protected forests. Conflicts with herbivores are speculated to be caused due to habitat degradation, absence of predator, absence of quality forage in the forest, etc. However, these speculations are not tested in field. Nevertheless, looking at increased individual and group raiding on the crops, it is essential to put a control on the reproductive rate of these individuals to avoid long-term conflict. Reproductive control needs an understanding of optimal demographic age and sex ratios to be maintained for sustenance of species. Hence, it should be practiced only in addition to the ecological population monitoring. Techniques used in reproductive control are new to the country and should be executed by expert research team. In case of a species like wild pig that can cause repeated conflict, provision of declaring such species as vermin for a particular area is available. In case of managing the on-going crop raiding, bio-fencing around the crop fields, night vigilance, alarm alerts and barricades should be used. Elevating the social carrying capacity by forming a self help group in the conflict prone villages that includes people from various sectors can provide immediate and economical solutions. Human - Non-human primate conflict is one of most serious issue in the negative interactions in human and wildlife. Though Rhesus macaques, Bonnet macaques and Hanuman Langur carry cultural respect from the dominant society, their increasing population in human settlements is increasingly resulting in negative interactions. Devotees and animal lovers feel gratified in feeding monkeys in temples, highways or roof tops and consider it a religious deed. Apart from many monkeys getting diseased and killed due to these habits, they have become habitual of snatching food from people and attacking them. Macaque troops involved in conflict are often translocated to the forests or enclosures in many parts of the country. Often these empty habitats are re-colonized by the surrounding macaque troops, and the conflict continues. Reproductive control is the most convenient and long term solution for controlling the negative interactions, but should be carried with regular population monitoring to keep the densities at optimal low levels. Methods such as oral administrative contraceptives, intra-uterine devices, and blockade of tubal patency following transcervical administration of polidocanol foam should be used for female monkey sterilization. Removal of specific macaque individuals that show persistent aggressive behavior or learnt raiding behavior should be implemented. Additionally social awareness about Solid waste management and proper disposal of rural organic waste as well as prohibition on feeding of monkeys in public places is of immense importance; as most of these troops colonize the area due to readily available food. Management of prioritized invasive species by 2020 is India’s 4th target of Fifth National Report to the Convention of Biological diversity. In total, 21 species were identified as high concern invasive species for 4 different ecosystems of India viz., terrestrial ecosystem (Lantana species complex, Prosopis juliflora, parthenium hysterophorus, Mikania micrantha, Chromolaena odorata, Ageratina adenophora, Ageratum conyzoides, Xanthium strumarium, Mimosa diplotricha, Hyptis suaveolens, Senna tora and Great African Snail (Achatina fulica)) island ecosystem (Axis axis and Hoplobatrachus tigerinus), freshwater ecosystem (Oreochromis mossambicus, Salmo trutta fario, Clarias gariepinus, Cyprinus carpio, Ipomoea carnea and Eichhornia crassipes) and marine ecosystem (Kappaphycus alvarezii). As a response to the impacts of these species, many regional managerial interventions are carried to remove the species. Most of these management practices are guided by the umbrella legislation of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and National Biodiversity Action Plan, 2008. It was also concluded during the workshop, that restoration of the native ecosystem should be the focus of management in the terrestrial ecosystem and hence the removal of any species should be followed by active/passive restoration of native ecosystem. The major gap that was observed was in the information about distribution and magnitude of invasion across country for any invasive species; and in the studies of restoration techniques in terrestrial ecosystem. The repeated introduction of fishes via aquaculture and escape through the controlled culture are the main invasion pathways in freshwater ecosystem. It should be addressed by enhancing the present quarantine techniques to identify the fry of these species during the import, and safeguarding the outlets of culture discharge (particularly in the floods).