Human–wildlife conflict
Human–wildlife conflict (HWC) refers to the negative interactions between humans and wild animals, with undesirable consequences both for people and their resources on the one hand, and wildlife and their habitats on the other.
As human-wildlife conflict inflicts direct and indirect consequences on people and animals, its mitigation is an important priority for the management of biodiversity and protected areas.
Resolving human-wildlife conflicts and fostering coexistence requires well-informed, holistic and collaborative processes that take into account underlying social, cultural and economic contexts.
As of 2013, many countries have started to explicitly include human-wildlife conflict in national policies and strategies for wildlife management, development and poverty alleviation.
An early form of human-wildlife conflict is the depredation of the ancestors of prehistoric man by a number of predators of the Miocene such as saber-toothed cats, leopards, and spotted hyenas.
Attacks on humans and livestock have exacerbated major threats to tiger conservation such as mortality, removal of individuals from the wild, and negative perceptions of the animals from locals.
Poor disposal of hotel waste in tourism-dominated towns have altered behaviours of carnivores such as sloth bears that usually avoid human habitation and human-generated garbage.
In Antarctica the first known instance of death due to human-wildlife conflict occurred in 2003 when a leopard seal dragged a snorkelling British marine biologist underwater where she drowned.
[27] Carnivores like raptors and bears create conflict with humans by eating both farmed and wild fish,[27] while others like lynxes and wolves prey upon livestock.
[28] Even less apparent cases of human-wildlife conflict can cause substantial losses; 500,000 deer-vehicle collisions in Europe (and 1-1.5 million in North America) led to 30,000 injuries and 200 deaths.
In Wisconsin, United States wolf depredation of livestock is a prominent issue that resulted in the injury or death of 377 domestic animals over a 24-year span.
[31] Expanding urban centers have created increasing human-wildlife conflicts, with interactions between human and coyotes and mountain lions documented in cities in Colorado and California, respectively, among others.
[32][33] Big cats are a similar source of conflict in Central Mexico, where reports of livestock depredation are widespread,[34] while interactions between humans and coyotes were observed in Canadian cities as well.
[35]On K'gari-Fraser Island in Australia, attacks by wild dingoes on humans (including the well-publicized death of a child) created a human-wildlife crisis that required scientific intervention to manage.
[37][38] In extreme cases large birds have been reported to attack people who approach their nests, with human-magpie conflict in Australia a well-known example.
[44] Marine predators such as killer whales[45] and fur seals[46] compete with fisheries for food and resources, while others like great white sharks have a history of injuring humans.
Examples include: Human wildlife conflict also has a range of hidden dimensions that are not typically considered when the focus is on visible consequences.
[69] In addition, research has shown that the fear caused by the presence of predators can aggravate human-wildlife conflict more than the actual damage produced by encounters.
