Human population interacts with wildlife in numerous
ways. Our species has directly explicated wild animals for food and two for
millennia and more recently for sporting or cultural reasons. Humans have
greatly modified habitants and landscapes through agriculture and other extractive
industries with far-reaching and typically negative impacts on wildlife populations.
Species have been translocated the around the globe, either deliberately or
accidentally with major consequences for native fauna. From the human
perspective, our interactions with wildlife are often positive- we gain
material benefit from harvesting species for food or other animal products. In
other situations, however, human interactions with wildlife are negative. Wild
animals may eat our livestock and damage our crops, they may compete with us as
hunters for wild prey populations, and they may even injure or kill us.
Focusing on predators and crop raiders we assess the costs to stakeholders of
living with wildlife. We focus on the direct costs to stakeholder of living
with wildlife resources and crops and try to calculate these in financial
terms. Wildlife may also impose indirect costs in terms of time and money spent
in preventing wildlife damage and opportunity costs in terms of the income
foregone from those activities that are precluded by the presence of wildlife.
This latter area has received much less attention to date and draw attention to
the need for inclusive studies.
Animal that range beyond reserve boundaries are
still vulnerable to lethal control. The
crocodiles from Kafue national park (Crocodylus niloticus) are one of
the few dangerous predators regularly found outside protected wildlife areas.
This is particularly so in southern and western of Kafue national park where an
extensive network of rivers and wetlands coupled with successful conservation
measures has allowed crocodile populations to flourish since uncontrolled
exploitation ended over three decades ago. This area is predominantly communal
land characterized by numerous subsistence communities dependent on river and
wetland resources. In recent years, the combination of a growing human
population and resurgent crocodile populations has resulted in considerable
conflict between humans and crocodiles. The principle objective of this study
was to quantify the impact of crocodiles on rural livelihoods. Data were
obtained from existing records and through community surveys on the southern
and western of Kafue and upper Zambezi River. Existing estimates suggest that
quiet a good number of domestic cattle are lost per year. Community surveys
also revealed conflict between crocodiles and artisinal fishermen, with an
estimated 71 500 fishing nets damaged by crocodiles per year. Human-crocodile
conflict in southern may have greater impacts than previously assumed, more
especially this season when the rains are available; this cases are common and
may undermine conservation and development objectives. Conflict with people is
the most serious threat faced by many vulnerable species and the ecosystem
consequences of losing these species is only beginning to be recognized. The
wide-ranging conversation impacts of human-wildlife conflict point to an urgent
need for effective solutions to reduce killing of problem wildlife. Protected
areas provide only a limited solution, because lethal controls can still
effects occupying all but the very largest reserves. Moreover, while protected
area networks are being expanded in some areas, many new reserves are multiple
-use areas’ occupied by people as well as wildlife. In the majority of cases,
therefore effective conservation will demand some means of peaceful coexistence
of people and wildlife outside protected areas. If such means cannot be found.
Further extinctions, with their association consequences for regional
biodiversity, cannot be avoided.
Transmission
of disease
Whilst beyond the main focus of this article, the
transmission of disease from wildlife to humans or livestock can be a major
cause of conflict. Wildlife carnivores can act as reservoirs of zoonotic
diseases of humans with rabies as the classic example. Rabies is a viral
disease which attacks the central nervous system. The symptoms may be paralysis
followed by death, or alternatively animals may develop the range which results
in biting other animals including humans, and transmitting the disease. Other
human pathogens carnivores are the reservoirs include the tape worm
echinococcus multilocularis which is transmitted by canids, and the protozoon
toxoplasma gondii which is transmitted by telids. Wildlife is also implicated
in the transmission of other generalist pathogens to livestock including the
microparasites brucella abortus and mycobacterium bouis which cause the
economically important diseases brucellosis. This diseases cause threats to
human beings and their livestock.
Crop
–raiding
Most rural residents grow their own supply of food
to eat and to sell the surplus, and keep livestock as an investment. Thus, any
damage to crops or livestock by wildlife has the potential to threaten key
livelihood strategies for household food security and investments. Crop damage
is a particular risk to less resourced households, who do not have access to
livestock or any cash income. In part of the world crop- raiding by wild
animals gives rise to significant conflict between local communities and wildlife
conservation. Although certainly not a new phenomenon, crop–raiding has
recently received consideration attention from conservation biologists.
Particularly in relation to African elephant, conflicts between elephants and local
communities are widespread in Africa and are a major concern for both elephant
conservation and rural development. Human elephant conflicts occur throughout
elephant range, both in the forests of west and central Africa and the savannas
of east and southern Africa. The issue of human- elephant conflict has become
increasingly significant as human populations expand into elephant habitat and
as elephant populations locally recovers from poaching. Although elephants are
not the most economically important crop pests in Africa, they can cause severe
localized damage unlike primitive crop –raiders; elephant also kill several
hundred rural Africans each year. As result elephants are widely perceived as a
major threat in rural lives and livelihoods and inspire great animosity and
fear among people who live in elephant range. The five most important wildlife
crop-raiders are olive baboons, bush pigs, red tailed monkeys, chimpanzees and elephant. Hippos also caused significant damage to crops.
Buffalo inflict relatively minor damage to crops (when compared with
elephant damage), other wildlife responsible for crop damage are waterbuck,
which caused comparatively little damage.
Deterrents
of Human Wildlife Conflict
what action are to be taken trying to reduce the
incidents of Human Wildlife Conflict, cracking whips, beating drums, burning
fires, and, if they have access to guns, shooting in the air or report to the
authority. The deterrents should be more effective against ‘problem animals’
other than elephants and that only just over half of farmers believed that such
deterrents were effective. If reported conservancy staff (especially ZAWA) are
active in trying to assist farmers in protecting their crops and livestock.
However, these management measures have limited success in prevention and do
not address the issue of compensation after damage.
Local community would appreciate compensation from
the government either in the form of money or food. Another suggestion is that of electric
fencing around fields, and also giving people while permission to people to
kill (animal cropping) the animals if carrying capacity is exceeded. Some
rangers should be sent to fields during the time when the crops are ripening to
frighten animals away.
Transboundary
implications of Human Wildlife Conflict
Human Wildlife Conflict has a strong transboundary
component due to the migratory nature of animals causing Human Wildlife
Conflict (especially elephants) and lack of international boundary fences.
Botswana derives considerable benefit from wildlife through tourism. Elephants
(particularly around the Chobe River) use Namibia as a nocturnal feeding ground
and return to the safety of protected areas in Botswana during the day. In this
context there could be potential for consideration of transboundary negotiations
regarding management of Human Wildlife Conflict. Recent resources provided for
transboundary conservation and development by international conservation
organisations, such as African Wildlife Foundation and Conservation
International, could provide a fertile environment for this negotiation.
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