Human Wildlife Conflict - A Fragile Coexistence

M. Laxmi Priya, Advocate

M. Jeevitha, Assistant Professor, Sathyabama Institution of Science and Technology, Chennai

ABSTRACT

Human-wildlife conflict is a serious obstacle for people's livelihood worldwide, as it has become prevalent while the shrinking of resources along with an increase in human population, development of infrastructure, increase in people’s demand, global climatic changes and other environmental factors, which puts great direct competition between wildlife and human.

The vital issue arises during the predation of agricultural livestock and death or injury to the people. So, the people who depend wholly upon their earning livestock and cultivable land get affected by depletion of their economic level and it also affects the whole family of the victim. In understanding the conflict, it is important to assess the extent of the damages and the context of local people should be considered because a suitable remedy found only through sound integration of local realities. This problem experienced rapidly in areas where regular predation on humans takes place.

Better land use policies, benefiting people through compensation scheme and educating local communities regarding the conservation of wildlife helps in mitigating wildlife-human conflict, increase in fragmentation leads to increase in human wildlife conflict. The root cause of Human Wildlife Conflict includes insufficiency in the size of protected area for wildlife needs. Consequently, wildlife starts to roam outside the protected areas for predation, this leads to triggering conflict. So, the standard of life people should be considered while making law and policy regarding land use policy and compensation.

Keywords: Human wildlife conflict, remedies, law and policy