IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Athreva, V.R. | |
| Conflict resolution and leopard conservation in a human dominated landscape | |
| 2012 Full Book | |
Whether the large carnivores can persist in human-use landscapes depends on the tolerance of the local people because a serious consequence of large carnivores in human-use landscapes is the potential for conflict. Conflict is often an issue of perception and losses might not be as serious as people view them but on the other hand it could also result in a serious loss to a marginal farmer whose livelihood is at stake. This is especially true in countries in Africa and Asia where rural farmers depend on their crops and livestock for their livelihood. Many studies, in the social and ecological sciences, have researched the factors affecting conflict but these are mainly located in Africa, Americas or Europe. The results from these studies may not be applicable to a country like India with very high human (average > 300/km2), and livestock population density, and where conflict can be extremely severe because of the continued presence of large carnivores in human-use landscapes. India faces a serious conservation challenge because wildlife laws are highly protectionist, many species of wild herbivores and carnivores cause losses to people (including human deaths), and information on conflict that is relevant to management is scarce. Some species of large carnivores occur in human-use areas but the lack of information on their ecology does not allow the use of effective mitigatory management actions. The leopard (_Panthera pardus_) is a common species which often comes into conflict with humans in different parts of India but till date there has been no study on its ecology in human-use landscapes, especially in relation to conflict. In this thesis, I attempt to elucidate the ecological and social factors that drive such conflict in an agricultural landscape in Maharashtra, western India. This study has two broad aims (i) to understand the ecology of the leopard and the levels of conflict when the species shares spaces with high density of humans and (ii) use the resulting knowledge to generate science-based management inputs to mitigate human leopard conflicts at the study area as well as in other parts of India. |
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