Section 4 Wild Animal

## **Chapter 4** Human–Wild Animal Conflict

*Yogeshpriya Somu and Selvaraj Palanisamy*

### **Abstract**

Wildlife species have faced the impacts of human dominion over the world throughout history. More recently, there has been increased global protection for endangered species as a result of greater awareness and concern for biodiversity. Conservationists are becoming increasingly concerned about the pervasive issue of conflicts between human and wildlife interests, especially as it relates to large carnivores that have the potential to harm both cattle and people. Pre-conflict mitigation refers to proactive measures like fences while post-conflict mitigation refers to compensation payments for lost animals. Both can be used to lessen conflicts between wild animals and livestock owners. The goal of compensation programs is to raise people's understanding of wildlife. But compensation programs are frequently criticized for being insufficient, difficult, and expensive. Compensation programs must be part of a comprehensive approach that includes options for controlling offending animals, proactive mitigation measures, and, in some cases, broader financial incentives for changes in land use practices in order to be more effective. The latter method has been used in India and several African countries. This chapter deals with various human-animal conflicts and their mitigation strategies. Despite these problems, conservation is likely to become increasingly utilized as biodiversity becomes increasingly threatened and methods of ameliorating threats lag behind.

**Keywords:** wild animals, human crop, mitigation, compensation

### **1. Introduction**

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 [1]. As scientists learn more about biodiversity, more species are listed as endangered, more processes are identified as threats to biodiversity, and there is less agreement on the significance of each threatening process. As these pressures intensify, the need to separate biodiversity from threatening processes. Human behavior, whether intentional or unintentional, legal or illegal, is the primary factor influencing the distribution and numbers of large carnivores in many parts of the world today. Conflicts between humans and wildlife are a growing source of concern for conservationists, particularly with regard to large carnivores, which can kill both livestock and humans.

Non-permeability of unelectrified fences is often difficult to achieve for many species, including elephants, lions, and leopards (Panthera *pardus*), and the effectiveness of electrified fences is highly dependent on maintenance. Human-animal conflict (HAC) and its negative consequences are expected to worsen as the world population grows. They disproportionately affect the rural poor in low-income countries, particularly smallholders in African and South Asian regions with high biodiversity [2]. Farmers have devised a variety of crop-raiding animal mitigation strategies [3]. Smallholders in low-income countries, on the other hand, are largely limited to traditional and low-cost technical measures (e.g., hunting, scaring, building stone or wooden fences) and labor-intensive crop guarding [3], which is a common HAC mitigation strategy.

Human-carnivore conflict is now a common global phenomenon in rural areas, as well as on the outskirts of cities in both developing and developed countries. Human– wildlife interaction and conflict are increasing as the human population and pressure on forest areas grow. It occurs when growing human populations overlap with established wildlife territories, increasing interaction of man and wild animals and thus resulting in increased levels of conflict. Direct wildlife contact occurs in both urban and rural areas, but it is more common inside and around protected areas [4]. Large mammals' movement and ranging patterns are primarily determined by the availability of food, water, escape cover, and mates.

Effective human-elephant Conflict (HEC) mitigation is difficult to understand and difficult to implement; it remains a complex package of seemingly disparate measures that must be used in combination and flexibly at various scales. The mitigation of HEC began in the mid-1990s. The IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group and its humanelephant Conflict Working Group spearheaded the necessary research and subsequent dissemination of tools to address the issue.

### **2. What are the reasons/causes for increased HAC?**

### **2.1 Habitat Loss**

Only 5% of India's geographical area is in the protected area category. This space is not enough to have a full-fledged habitat for wild animals. A territorial animal like a male tiger needs an area of 60100 sq. km. But the area allocated to an entire tiger reserve, like the Bor Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra, is around 140 sq. km. The territorial animals do not have enough space within reserves and their prey does not have enough fodder to thrive on. This has forced the wild animals to move out and venture close to human habitation in search of food, resulting in HAC.

### **2.2 Increasing infrastructure development**

Recent relaxations in norms to allow for a widening of highway and railway networks near these protected areas are the new threats, adding to the old ones of retaliatory poisoning and poaching. Apart from highways, railway and irrigation projects are coming up in tiger reserves. For example, the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project will submerge 100 sq. km of Panna Tiger Reserve [5]. Also, wildlife experts estimate that 29% of the tigers in India are outside the protected areas.

### **3. Mitigation strategies**


conservationists were able to establish an effective predictor of human-elephant conflict by combining grid-based geographic information systems with simple statistical analyses.


### **4. Main types of human–wildlife conflicts**

With species that are abundant and viewed as pests, extensively managed, or even domesticated, and live in a variety of environments, human–wildlife conflict and coexistence do occur. It should come as no surprise that much research on human–wildlife conflict has concentrated on endangered species. The protection of endangered species and the requirements of local communities must be balanced, which is why many conservation methods include conflict resolution as a key component. The following examples high lightened the effects of typical types of human–wildlife interactions.

### **4.1 Leopard–human conflicts**

In order to retain local support for leopard protection, human killing must be dealt carefully as it is the ultimate and most significant expression of human–leopard conflict. The remote mountain and foothill regions of central and south Asia are the

### *Human–Wild Animal Conflict DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107891*

only places where leopards can be found. They can be found in tropical forests, meadows, mountain temperate forests, and locations that are adjacent to cities, where they have access to prey species and some cover to hide in. Athreya and Belsare [6] suggested that they are still thriving in locations where other big cats have been eradicated due to their less specialized diet than other felids. It has previously been considered a common species because of its extensive geographic range and low priority status for conservation.

### *4.1.1 Biology of the species related to conflict*


Scientists do not advise translocation to resolve leopard conflict because Leopards might spread conflict or start it close to the new release site; following translocation, particularly the elderly leopards, make an effort to return to their homes. Increased leopard populations in the nearby human-dominated areas could result from sustained translocation into a particular forest.

Eight subspecies of the leopard are presently classified by the IUCN Red List as threatened, meaning they are either "endangered" or "critically endangered." The leopard has been eliminated from a sizable portion of its historical range due to habitat degradation, a decline in natural prey, and direct human harassment.

Livestock raising is a crucial component of the local economy in the majority of developing nations. Particularly the underprivileged locals graze their cattle in or next to forests and protected areas. Commonly used strikes grazing livestock in wooded areas as well when hazards to people are present within human settlements also exist [7].

### *4.1.2 Mitigation for human leopard conflict*


land use practices, and resulting anthropogenic stressors. Long-term conflict rates can be significantly decreased by avoiding deforestation and increasing the number of trees planted in forest areas.

### *4.1.3 A guide to identifying leopard attacks*


• It must be remembered that the following are merely recommendations and that it is frequently challenging to gather precise information from the signals in the field.

### **4.2 Human-tiger conflicts**

Despite the necessity to promote coexistence and the prevalence of conflicts between humans and large animals, few studies have actually made an effort to put conflict reduction techniques into practice and assess their efficacy. Locals commonly feel as though their knowledge and opinions regarding conflicts between people and wildlife are being disregarded, which undermines support for initiatives like the Livestock Insurance Fund.

Human-tiger conflicts can be grouped into 3 categories:


Tigers may target people as prey, but most of the time they do it out of self-defense to protect their cubs or themselves, particularly if they have already been hurt by people. Tigers generally prey on domestic animals, especially in areas where there are few wild predators to catch them. Although the existence of tigers in regions where humans predominate is not always a recipe for conflict, it may be. Because of this, the local populace closely monitors such events and frequently requests government intervention.

If nothing is done to stop these incidents, as tiger numbers increase, the number of fatalities may also increase. Even though these rates of mortality are minimal in comparison to other factors that affect human populations, the economic and emotional toll on local people is significant and can have a negative impact on efforts to conserve tigers. In regions where wild prey is scarce due to hunting, habitat degradation, and competition with livestock, tigers routinely kill livestock and dogs.

### *4.2.1 Principles to improve human-Tiger conflicts*

The human-tiger Conflict has been addressed using a variety of strategies. They can be broadly divided into four groups:


### *4.2.1.1 Preventative measures*

	- i. Except for situations where tigers stray into landscapes occupied by humans, depredation of livestock will cease if livestock grazing is prohibited within tiger habitat.
	- a. Tiger attacks on livestock and people may increase if there is a lack of natural prey.
	- b. Site-specific measures to boost prey populations may include increased law enforcement and legislative reform to decrease overharvest, lessening competition with cattle, and protecting and restoring habitat [8]
	- c. Tiger availability must be reduced while efforts are made to boost wild prey; otherwise, livestock predation may grow as tiger density and reproduction rise.

### C. Zoning

	- 1.Tigers and other large cats are sometimes injured when they attack people or cattle, and the wounds are frequently caused by snares, traps, or gunshots.
	- i. Tiger assaults have been deterred by wearing masks on the back of the head and protective helmets, and tigers have been trained to avoid attacking people by using electrified mannequins.
	- ii. Although dogs have been employed to alert humans to the presence of tigers, in Russia, tigers have attacked many people while trying to feed on dogs.
	- iii. In Russia, tigers have been effectively deterred from attacking using handheld flares and pepper spray.
	- a. Compensation programs compensate livestock losses due to predation, medical expenses when people are attacked, and family compensation when a life is lost.
	- b. Compensation programs typically aim to improve local acceptance of tigers and, as a result, reduce retaliation killing, but with varying degrees of success.
	- c. Failure reasons include unsustainable high payout costs, difficulty verifying claims, a large number of false claims, government corruption, and the difficulty of making timely payments in rural areas.
	- d. In terms of compensation for human deaths, it is difficult, and some believe immoral, to place a monetary value on human life; however, failing to compensate for human life loss may give the impression of an extremely indifferent conservation community.
	- e. Compensation programs offer compensation for livestock losses from theft and medical costs incurred when humans are attacked. Due to the indiscriminate nature of the tactics employed for retribution killing (such as snaring, poisoning, and explosive traps), compensating merely for damage caused by tigers may not diminish tiger reprisal killing.
	- f. For these reasons, compensation programs are not advised for livestock depredation; nevertheless, if they are employed, they should only offer compensation in situations where there is still depredation despite effective livestock management techniques.

### *4.2.2.2 Incentives programs*


### *4.2.2.3 Reactive measures*


### *4.2.2.4 Integrated programs: education and community involvement*


### **4.3 Human-elephant conflicts**

In elephant range countries, human-elephant conflict is a key conservation concern. A range of management solutions for preventing and minimizing humanelephant conflict have been developed and are used at various scales. However, human-elephant conflict persists because most present prevention measures are driven by site-specific factors that only provide short-term solutions, while mitigation strategies frequently transfer conflict risk from one location to another.

Human settlements and agricultural fields have expanded across Asia and Africa, resulting in extensive loss of elephant habitat, deteriorated fodder, reduced landscape

**Figure 1.** *Decision-making chart for livestock depredations (image courtesy Goodrich, [9]).*

connectivity, and a considerable decline in elephant populations relative to their historical size and overall range. Elephants are increasingly brought into greater contact with humans as their habitats shrink, resulting in more frequent and severe conflict over space and resources, with repercussions ranging from crop raiding to reciprocal loss of life.

Human-elephant conflict has become a concern to biodiversity conservation, and conflict resolution is a top priority for elephant conservation in range countries. Growing understandings of wildlife behavior and the spatiotemporal patterns of human–wildlife conflict have resulted in the suggestion, development, and implementation of a wide range of prevention and mitigation strategies. Current conflict resolution strategies emphasize isolation and on-site deterrents, as well as mitigation through elephant translocation or selective culling and monetary compensation for losses.

### **Figure 2.**

*Global elephant species distribution map. Land cover based on a 500-m resolution mode value MODIS land cover type product (MCD12Q1) from NASA, 20002016 [10] (Friedl et al. [11]; elephant population data).*

However, most management measures only address the symptoms of humanelephant conflict, rather than the underlying causes of conflict such as cultural values, resource use decisions, and the increasing fragmentation and isolation of elephant populations.

The Elephantidae family historically spanned the American, European, Asian, and African continents, but it now only exists in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (**Figure 2**). Extant Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and African savanna (*Loxodonta africana*) and forest (*Loxodonta cyclotis*) elephant species are listed as vulnerable [10].

### *4.3.1 The causes and result of human-elephant conflict*

Human-elephant conflict is a critical concern for ensuring elephant survival and persistence in their range countries, as these are also regions where the development and well-being of human groups sharing space with these mega-herbivores are crucial. As humans alter the landscape, bringing human and elephant populations closer together, the potential of conflict increases, with often catastrophic consequences. In India alone, conflict episodes kill 400 people and 100 elephants each year, with crop raiding affecting an additional 500,000 families. Every year, Sri Lanka records around 70 human and 200 elephant deaths as a result of warfare. Illegal ivory poaching complicates projections for elephant losses in Africa.

During dry years, many rural populations relocate to more permanent water sources to provide consistent water supplies for their household needs, crops, and livestock.

However, competition for increasingly scarce water sources and other resources during and/or after droughts increase the potential of elephant-human conflict.


### *4.3.2 Strategies for conflict prevention and mitigation*

### *4.3.2.1 Conflict resolution techniques*

	- i. Ecological pathways and protected areas
		- Wildlife conservation is now linked with the physical separation of humans and wildlife owing to the creation of protected areas and the work of conservationists and wildlife managers. Ecological corridors connect isolated protected areas and fragmented habitats, promote herd connectedness, provide demographic rescue benefits, and improve gene flow.
		- Furthermore, ecological corridors or even fencing for protected areas may lead to "green grabbing," in which subsistence farmers are denied access to privately or communally held arable lands along elephant migration routes that are walled off to lessen conflict between people and elephants without receiving just compensation.
		- Therefore, deeper comprehension of human-driven land use change is required, along with a greater awareness of how it may affect elephant habitat, connectivity, and migratory patterns.
	- In order to prevent elephants from invading agriculture and populated areas, physical exclusion techniques like electric fences and trenches are frequently deployed.
	- The use of these physical barriers at a broader scale is hampered by the expensive construction and ongoing maintenance costs, particularly in fragmented landscapes with considerable frontage to farms and forests.
	- Design, responses to reports of fence breaks and fence-breaking animals, as well as general enforcement and management, may all work against longterm efficacy.
	- According to studies, African elephants may try to break an electric fence that surrounds them if they discover that their tusks do not carry electricity, causing the fence to sustain expensive damage.
	- Physical obstacles can have a negative impact on long-term survival because they further isolate already dispersed elephant populations, obstruct movement and access to seasonal food and water supplies, and restrict the exchange of genes across herds. In Asia, the efficiency of fencing has mostly gone untapped.

### c. Other techniques.

### *4.3.2.2 Acoustic barriers*

Farmers use loud noises, firecrackers or carbide cannons, smashing metal objects, throwing stones, and yelling to protect their crops and scare away elephants that might raid them. While these methods are efficient in preventing elephants from damaging crops, they also interfere with farmers' livelihoods and psychosocial wellbeing. The use of high-tech acoustic deterrents is still challenging. Only short-term and short-distance elephant repellant tests have been conducted using audio playbacks of ominous noises such as wild cat growls, human yells, and vocalizations from matriarchal groups of elephants.

According to some research, elephants adapt rapidly to these noises and come back to plunder farms. Additionally, these playback systems require logistical problems to install, regularly monitor, and maintain in remote locations.

Although the experiments conducted indicated that audio playbacks were 65–100% effective, the potential adverse effects on other species warrant more investigation before widespread adoption.

Recent research in Africa provide encouraging outcomes when elephants are repelled by bioacoustic techniques like beehive fences, which also help pollinators and honeybee habitats.

### *4.3.2.3 Light-based dissuaders*

To protect maturing crops and fend off attacking elephants, farmers may start bonfires and use fiery torches or spotlights. A small number of communal fields have *Human–Wild Animal Conflict DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107891*

been tried with solar spotlights, which are shone in elephants' eyes to scare them away from agricultural fields; nevertheless, initial purchase prices restrict widespread adoption by low-income rural households and communities.

Like acoustic deterrents, light-based deterrents are temporary fixes that lose their potency over time when elephants become accustomed to them or relocate to other areas.

### *4.3.2.4 Agriculture-based deterrents*

Agriculture-based deterrents like chili-greased fences and chili dung have not seen as much testing or use as exclusion, acoustic, and light techniques [12].

There is a wide range in the effectiveness of chile deterrents, from little effect to modest reduction in crop-raiding, according to recent field testing. Furthermore, this method is unaffordable for many communities due to high application and maintenance costs.

### *4.3.2.5 Early identification and alert*

Using mobile phones to quickly communicate among farmers and between farmers and local officials is one method for early elephant discovery and warning. This technique encourages collaboration in chasing away possibly troublesome elephants.

In order to recognize and locate people over great distances, elephants employ infrasonic cries, which early warning systems may incorporate by placing detectors in conflict-prone areas. However, in order for these gadgets to send alerts to farmers, they need to be connected to the internet or have network coverage, which makes infrasonic receivers less useful in distant locations.

Similar to radio-collared elephants, satellite tracking enables early warning of potentially troublesome individuals and herds.

### *4.3.3 Conflict resolution techniques*

Affected farmers and local people may request a response from government bodies or nongovernmental groups that deal with elephant conservation after a humanelephant conflict occurrence to lessen potential conflict in the future [13].

The taming, culling, and relocation of troublesome individual elephants or herds are covered in detail below. The topic of conflict mitigation initiatives that financially make up for lost crops or lives is then covered.

### *4.3.3.1 Translocation*

Problematic elephants are drugged, rendered immobile, and transported from farms or human settlements to PAs for release. Initial findings indicate that translocated elephants frequently return to their original territory and tend to spread conflict around the release area as they move toward their original home range, even though the effectiveness and long-term feedback of elephant translocation have not been thoroughly tested. Additionally, translocation frequently defeats conservation objectives due to increased mortality rates for elephants during capture and transportation, as well as occasionally deliberate killing in the release region.

### *4.3.3.2 Domestication*

Domestication methods have been used in Asia for a very long time to reduce or even end hostilities between people and elephants. Although Asian elephants can reproduce in captivity, it is best to capture and domesticate wild females. Asian elephants that were captured and domesticated have integrated well into human society. They currently perform ceremonial duties in temples and at community events, haul heavy loads for use in agriculture, settling disputes, and going on hunting expeditions, and assist in the capture of other wild elephants.

Human-elephant conflict and the resulting negative attitudes toward species conservation are likely influenced by the loss of these beneficial human-elephant relationships in local communities and effective management of wild populations.

### *4.3.3.3 Compensation*


### *4.3.3.4 Culling*

Elephants that pose a persistent threat to communities, particularly those that have killed people, are regularly slaughtered to allay grievances and stop further conflicts and losses in both Asia and Africa. Africa often employs the slaughter of crop-robbing

### *Human–Wild Animal Conflict DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107891*

elephants or those that attack humans to control elephant populations and reduce human-elephant conflict, in contrast to Asia's emphasis on domestication. African culling customs have their origins in both pre-Colonial and colonial elephant hunting, which helped to ensure food security by supplying affected people with meat and by reducing competition for scarce resources. It also provided ivory for sale. Elephants in southern and eastern Africa were more frequently killed for their ivory as the demand for ivory from the continent increased due to culling for mitigation.

It is debatable and disputed whether culling is effective or necessary for preserving elephant populations and reducing conflict because it mostly targets male elephants because of their large territorial ranges that bring them near to human habitations.

### *4.3.4 A theory-based model for reducing and mitigating human elephant conflict*

The dependence of both species is increased by ongoing and upcoming changes to land use, conservation policy, economic markets, climate issue, and other disruptions. The coexistence of humans and elephants rather than their conflict is the focus of effective strategic planning, which also addresses the fundamental causes of conflict and their spatial variation as well as the overlapping and changing requirements of both species. As per Shaffer et al. [14], conceptual model, which builds on previous work, focuses on encouraging peaceful coexistence and minimizing conflict through landscape-level planning guided by open-data and tools, ethnographic data, and community-based education and mitigation strategies.

Conflict between humans and elephants is caused by the intersection of biophysical processes, livelihood activities, and species population dynamics. The sizes, densities, rates of growth, and frequent movements of elephant herds have an immediate impact on the places, times, and levels of conflict. This intensity takes into account the perceived hazards to human safety as well as the degree of harm done to a home or community and its capacity to withstand more conflict (**Figures 3** and **4**).

### **Figure 3**.

*Image courtesy Shaffer et al. [14]. Human-elephant conflict: a review of current management strategies and future directions.*

### **Figure 4.**

*Human-bear conflict management plan [15].*

However, burn techniques to manage landscapes are pulse events. On the opposite side of the conflict equation, human population dynamics directly influence land usage and resource access during livelihood activities. Decisions about land use and resource access, conflict resolution strategies, perceived risks, and ultimately the sustainability of any initiatives taken to lessen or prevent future conflict are influenced by historical changes to livelihood practices brought on by sociocultural, economic, political, climate, and biophysical changes.

According to site-specific data on attitudes toward elephants and the costs of conflict, it is possible to restructure mitigation and educational programs or introduce new opportunities in areas where communities can profit from the presence of elephants to foster tolerance and increase appreciation for elephants. This data must be gathered objectively, with "boots on the ground," by observing and learning about the needs and decision-making processes of the community, as well as by identifying local residents who can take the lead in co-creating, co-implementing, and co-managing long-term conflict reduction strategies in their communities.

Therefore, in a coupled natural and human system, the adaptive capacity, resilience, and vulnerability of a variety of biophysical and social components, and the processes that link them together, are crucial for the conservation and longterm sustainability of coexisting human and elephant populations. Our conceptual model focuses on resource rivalry and the ensuing conflict between humans and elephants over access to water, food, and space. Additionally, it discusses press and pulse disruption processes that affect the competition for human and elephant resources.

Alternative tactics may be suggested if conflict hotspots and areas of shared resource usage have been discovered by landscape modeling that incorporates data from both natural and human systems. In order to maintain appropriate water availability during dry years, strategies could include digging new wells and constructing boreholes for human populations or developing new water sources along known elephant migration pathways that could detour these animals away from human

regions. Communities could collaborate with governmental organizations and nongovernmental organizations to create policies and programs that safeguard crucial elephant range areas and ecological corridors while promoting human well-being by creating new employment opportunities and ensuring sustainable access to resources that are significant to local culture.

### **4.4 Human-bear conflict**

Conflicts between people and bears appear to have received less attention globally than disputes involving other big predators like felids and canids. On four continents, millions of humans coexist with bears; some do so happily, while others must deal with protracted disputes. Conflicts between locally or globally endangered animals create questions about conservation. "Any circumstance where wild bears utilize or damage human property; where wild bears harm people; or where people believe bears to be a direct threat to their property or safety" is what we refer to as a "humanbear conflict".

Sloth bears are notoriously vicious animals. Sloth bears are among the most feared of all wild creatures in central India, where they have a dreadful reputation. Particularly when the mother and cubs are present, they are incredibly unpredictable when it comes to attacking people. Conflict between humans and bears has been documented all across the world. The Asiatic black bear, one of the main mammals of the Himalayan woods, coexists in its habitat with a wide variety of other plant and animal species.

The Asiatic black bear has been reported to be widely spread throughout southern and eastern Asia, with scattered populations in Taiwan and Baluchistan Province of Iran in the west and Indo-China in the east to much of China, Korea, and Japan [16].

Bears typically attacked when they were suddenly confronted, and the attacks were presumably a defensive reaction. Attacks on people engaged in different activities were more likely to occur when they used varied environments more intensely.

Future human-bear conflict management projects should take following points into account.


### *4.4.1 Conflict between humans and bears*

• In regions where killing bears threaten their survival, incentives must be developed to promote tolerance among local groups. Bears fit well into the biodiversity effects compensation model, which matches conservation issues with appropriate remedies.


### *4.4.2 Community involvement in conflict management*


### *4.4.3 Welfare aspect of conflict and its management*


### *4.4.4 Effectiveness of educational initiatives*

• The most frequently mentioned strategy for resolving human-bear conflict is education. The goal of public education should be to raise awareness and aid in the prevention of collisions, damage, and injuries.

### *Human–Wild Animal Conflict DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.107891*


### *4.4.5 Improving human-bear conflict management plans*


### *4.4.6 Policy implications regarding human bear conflict*


capabilities to apply the best knowledge in a prudent, realistic, sensitive, and, above all, useful manner to their very different work environments.

• We all share the desire to promote the cohabitation of bears and humans on a global scale, and while comparable concepts may help to achieve this aim, for them to be effective, they must be cleverly tailored to local conditions.

### **4.5 Human-rhinoceros conflict**

The greater one-horned rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), one of the five remaining rhinoceros species, had its status changed from "endangered" to "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2008. Asian rhino species like to live on alluvial plain grasslands, as well as nearby swamps and woodlands, where there is year-round access to water and lush vegetation. Between the Indo-Myanmar border in the east to the Sindh River Basin, Pakistan in the west, they were once common throughout the northern flood plains and close to the foothills of the Indian subcontinent.

Conflict between people and wildlife must be resolved in order to protect rhino populations and local communities way of life. To address the issues of human– wildlife conflict, local people's involvement and their collaboration with PA officials are essential. Conflict between people and animals can be resolved in a way that benefits both the residents and the rhinos.

Indian rhinos, also known as Greater one-horned rhinos, are arguably the most ancient species of rhino. Their skin resembles a thick armor plate and is similar to that of dinosaurs. But what distinguishes and sets them apart from other rhino species is the single horn. Greater one-horned rhinos are classified as vulnerable, as opposed to the critically endangered black rhinos, mostly because to the decreased threat of poaching.

### *4.5.1 Reason for huma rhino conflict*

Elephants favored all crop kinds in a mature stage of growth and specifically harmed rice, maize, and wheat. Contrarily, rhinos preferred wheat over rice, and like antelope and deer, they chose crops that were still growing but not quite ripe. The larger one-horned rhinos were simple to spot in their favorite wheat fields as well as in lentil, rice, and mustard fields. Once they were in the field, chasing them away did not lessen the amount of damage that was done. Although male rhinos during mating season would also fight aggressors, adolescent rhinos remained largely shy and mothers with calves could be especially hostile. Rhinos appeared to cause more damage when being pursued by a group of humans with the intention of driving them back to their natural hiding places in the national park than when left alone and unmolested. This suggests a mistaken effort by neighborhood farmers that needs to be looked into more thoroughly.

The most effective deterrent, according to, was burning bundles of thatch grass carried by guards to frighten rhinos away from farms in Chitwan/Nepal after he observed several traditional techniques of doing so.

### *4.5.2 Mitigation strategies*

In areas where greater one-horned rhino is present, crop protection measures need to be in place in the early stage of farming. At a later stage, when crops are maturing, protection measures could be lowered, but need to be enforced again during the time after harvest, when 40 crops are laid out for drying in the fields. In African wildlife areas populated by hippos, such as close to entry points at rivers (Kendall, [20]) or at hippo pools, measures for crop protection need to be taken from an early stage of growth onwards.

### *4.5.2.1 Electrical fencing*

Many African and Asian nations have advocated the use of electric fences to keep large herbivores off agriculture and in protected areas. In order to protect crops from hippos, rhinos, and large antelopes, fencing is advised.

Although these installations might initially lessen crop loss, they have not been shown to be totally secure against any of the aforementioned species over a lengthy period of time. The management's labor- and money-intensive nature is one of the key problems.

This is particularly true during the wet season, when the grasses grow swiftly and energy is easily lost, leading to fence that is ineffectual. Furthermore, since they cannot quickly escape the barrier when pursued, the animals would suffer even greater injury.

### *4.5.2.2 Restoring landscapes*

More room was required for breeding and habitation as the rhino population grew. All the organizations involved began rebuilding rhino habitats not only in India but also in Nepal. In order for these critters to relocate to higher ground during floods, habitat corridors were secured.

### *4.5.2.3 Working with locals*

Human settlements surround the protected regions for larger one-horned rhinos in India and Nepal. Therefore, it was crucial for the survival of rhinos in India that the people living close to the rhino reserve have compassion for the animal. Numerous initiatives are being undertaken to protect Indian rhinos while also providing villagers with a means of subsistence by asking them to cultivate a number of particular plant species that aid in anti-poaching operations. Additionally, this lessens conflicts between people and rhinos.

### *4.5.2.4 Reducing unlawful trade*

The concerned group is working with TRAFFIC, a network that monitors wildlife traffic, to take a number of steps to limit the illegal trade in rhino horn. To stop the illegal trafficking of rhino horns in Asian black markets, an intelligence network and anti-poaching patrols are deployed from key areas.

### **5. Conservation**

Humans actively work to preserve wild species and their habitats through the practice of wildlife conservation. The ecological equilibrium is maintained in large part by wildlife. There are many benefits to conservation for preserving a healthy ecosystem, genetic resources, recreation, and education. The main causes of wildlife extinction include habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching, illegal trade, conflicts between people and wildlife, and pollutants. The main methods for ensuring the survival of animals include protecting vital ecosystems, wise planning and management for captive breeding, and prevention of poaching and illegal trade.

Animals, plants, and their habitats are preserved and protected through wildlife conservation. The main goals of wildlife conservation are to protect the habitat, preserve the breeding population, and outlaw the slaughter and unlawful exchange of animals [21]. Therefore, protecting wildlife has to take into account both biotic (plants, animals, and microorganisms) and abiotic (human-caused) elements. As a result, protecting wildlife resources is closely linked to protecting other natural resources.

The ecological equilibrium is maintained in large part by wildlife. Every living thing on this planet has a specific role in the food chain and makes a distinctive contribution to the ecosystem in that role. An illustration will help us to understand. When carnivores are killed, the number of herbivores increases, which in turn affects the vegetation in the forest. As a result, when there is insufficient food in the forest, the herbivores leave the forest and invade agricultural land, where they destroy the crops. When stability and balance are disturbed, numerous issues result. Unfortunately, many natural species are becoming endangered today. The main causes of wildlife extinction include habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching, illegal trade, conflicts between people and animals, and pollutants [22].

The greatest danger to wildlife is habitat degradation. There is no doubt that the extinction of wildlife species will be disastrous to this habitat. In order to maintain the conservation of wildlife and natural resources, it is imperative that we as people act responsibly.

### **6. Requirement for conservation**

1.Balance of ecological nature

The preservation of an ecosystem's natural equilibrium is of utmost importance. A species' population decline disrupts the natural food chain and the ecosystem, putting other species at risk. This equilibrium could be upset by the arrival of new species, the unexpected extinction of some species, natural disasters, or man-made causes. For instance, tiger and lion attacks on humans and domesticated animals occur when all the herbivorous animals in a forest are killed. In a similar manner, the killing of snakes for their skin helps the rat population to skyrocket.

2.Biological value

Wildlife is regarded as an ecological asset and a gauge of the health of the environment. The biological value of wildlife is concerned with their role in sustaining productive ecosystems through activities including pollination, seed dissemination and planting, population management of animals and plants, nutrient recycling, and scavenging for waste [21].

3.Monetary worth

Wildlife is abundant throughout the nation and a reliable source of income [23]. Nowadays, wildlife has grown to be a significant source of income. For commercial purposes, wildlife is harvested for its timber, firewood, hides, ivory, horns, and fur, among other products. Zoos and museums are able to keep both live and dead animals on display.

4.Educational benefit

Numerous scientific studies and research employ wild animals. Rhesus monkeys, for instance, are frequently utilized in biomedical research.

5.Recreation

For humans, wildlife serves as a source of entertainment and recreation. Visits to locations dedicated to animal protection are extremely beneficial to many professionals, including photographers and bird watchers.

### **6.1 Conservation techniques**

### 1.Protect habitats for wildlife

The main factor contributing to a decline in wildlife population is habitat damage. Human activity that contributes to habitat destruction includes logging, industrialization, urbanization, using forested areas for agriculture to meet human needs, and mining. Some of the natural reasons include forest fires and weather changes. One approach to safeguard our wildlife is through raising plants and saving trees, protecting the last remaining unaltered areas of natural habitat, developing new techniques to boost agricultural output without using more land, and building wildlife corridors. Since isolated populations can migrate along habitat corridors, genetic diversity is increased, and human– wildlife interactions are reduced [23]. In the forest, cultivating some flowering plants will draw insects that can aid in pollination.

2.Preventing illicit trading

Poaching is the next biggest hazard to wild animals after habitat loss. This unlawful conduct is being carried out for a variety of absurd reasons, particularly for rare animal items like ivory, fur, organs, skin, and bones. On the other side, some animals have been hunted for food, for religious reasons, and because of some unfounded claims about their therapeutic worth. However, the truth is that there is no evidence to support the medical usefulness of animal organs 2019 [24]. Trackers that are safe and undetectable must be employed to monitor animal activity in order to stop these actions. Poaching can be dramatically decreased by outlawing the sale and purchase of wildlife animal parts in underground markets. Wild plant and animal commerce must be subject to adequate legislative and administrative controls.

### 3.Lowering pollution

The amount of waste produced worldwide is primarily rising daily. 5.25 trillion bits of plastic garbage are exclusively found in the oceans, according to a survey. It seriously endangers aquatic life. Other than oil spills, untreated sewage, and industrial chemicals, harmful pollutants including carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and ozone are also produced. These pollutants have an impact on both people and animals. The endocrine system is disturbed, sex ratios vary, and reproductive parameters are diminished in animals, and teratogenic, genotoxic consequences, immunosuppression, and other immune-related illnesses are also present [25].

The efforts to be taken to lessen environmental pollution include limiting the use of plastics, recycling and reusing garbage, cleaning up the ocean, employing bacteria and some plants to break down chemical pollutants, and treating industrial wastewater to reduce pollutants. The fact that all garbage is produced by people alone means that we alone should take responsibility for keeping the environment clean.

### 4.Awareness

Knowledge raising awareness among those who engage in superstitious behavior, animal poisoning to protect their livestock, and poaching. Children should be taught and given the necessary training to educate others about the importance of wildlife and its management. A significant influence will be produced by educating the next generation and integrating them into wildlife conservation initiatives. Future residents' perceptions of the value of wildlife will be shaped by the inclusion of wildlife education in the school curriculum. Encouraging community involvement in wildlife management and conservation will undoubtedly enhance the status of wild species.

### 5.Adoption

One way to preserve the wild species held in captivity is through adoption. Many nations, including India, permit the adoption of zoo birds and wild animals. By adopting animals and feeding them on a monthly or annual basis, one can make several contributions to the conservation of wildlife. Zoos and species have different paying policies and procedures. The operation of conservation efforts, including captive breeding programs for endangered species in various zoos, will undoubtedly be aided by animal adoption programs. A person's adaptation of animals not only demonstrates his or her love for wildlife but also encourages others to do the same. The conservation of wildlife will benefit greatly from this tiny action.

### 6.Captivity

Animals are bred in human-controlled environments as part of the process known as captive breeding. As animal populations can grow faster than in the wild, it has been a popular management strategy for endangered species in recent years. Typically, captive breeding operations are not started until the natural population has declined to unsustainable levels [26]. In order to safeguard the population against genetic illness, captive breeding requires

significantly greater attention. But it's crucial to understand that captive reproduction is insufficient to guarantee the long-term survival of endangered species.

### **7. Conclusion**

Being a part of nature, it is natural for humans to come into contact with animals. However, because we do not fully understand animal behavior, we often feel threatened by their antics and the damage they cause to our property. We do not realize that some of our actions, even unconscious ones, may make animals feel threatened and lead to retaliation on their part. Therefore, educating the general public about such conflicts is crucial to solving the issue. If we can learn why some animals attack us and take appropriate action to stop them, we can develop positive and loving relationships with animals, which will be beneficial in the long run as we will learn how to treat them with respect and care.

There is no yet other form of mitigation, despite the fact that mitigation measures are crucial. In order to achieve the optimum results, many of the measures must be combined. Installing structures to deter birds, for instance, might be effective in the short term, but if residents continue to feed pigeons repeatedly, the problem will not be resolved. When choosing mitigation strategies, an inclusive and comprehensive approach must be used.

In the end, reducing human–wildlife conflict is a difficult endeavor since both animals and people need time to alter their habitats and behavior, therefore all the remedies must be implemented regularly over a lengthy period of time before any results can be noticed. Therefore, both residents and decision-makers must have tolerance and understanding when resolving animal conflicts.

### **Author details**

Yogeshpriya Somu1,2\* and Selvaraj Palanisamy1,2

1 Department of Veterinary Medicine, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Thanjavur, India

2 Tamilnadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, India

\*Address all correspondence to: dryogeshpriya@gmail.com

© 2022 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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