Human–Wildlife Conflict And Its Mitigation: A Study Of Pilibhit Tiger Reserve

Abstract

Pibhit Tiger Reserve, Uttar Pradesh, India, is situated in the Pilibhit district within the Terai landscape at Himalayan foothills. Originally as sanctuary, it was incorporated under Project Tiger as a Tiger Reserve in 2014. This study develops a detailed conceptual framework for human–wildlife conflicts in the area. Rooted in social ecology, this study studies 6 villages located in Pilibhit Tiger Reserve and Social Forestry Division within the district including a hierarchy of stakeholders from Forest Department and conservation non-governmental organizations. Records of human–wildlife conflicts and livestock depredation further gauge the extent of this issue, pending compensation and government’s expenditure on compensations. This detailing entails in-depth study of attitudes, awareness, local participation, human– wildlife conflict incidents, mitigation measures, compensation policy, ecological pressures, forest staff challenges and people–staff relations. Results find that local villagers expressed negative attitudes towards wildlife and forest staff. They expressed distrust in forest staff coupled with misplaced beliefs about the role of forest staff and “ownership” of wildlife. The staff also states problems of crowd management, funding delays, underpayment and understaffing. Moreover, cases of retaliatory killing and attacks on staff from villagers, forest dependency alongside entry into core areas despite prohibition uncover more dynamics of people–relations. Human–wildlife conflicts adversely impact the local ecosystem as well as affect the lives and livelihoods of the local community. This study highlights the complexity of this issue. However, the socio-ecological approach aids in developing a framework for addressing site-based problems for human–wildlife conflict mitigation and conservation. The findings of this study imply that participation of local community and overcoming administrative hurdles to conservation efforts are important in mitigating human–wildlife conflicts.