**1. Introduction**

Conflicts between people and mammals currently rank among the highest main threats to conservation in Africa. The World Conservation Union [1] defines Human-Wildlife Conflict (HWC) as a threat resulting directly from the competition between rural communities and wild animals over natural resources, entailing consequential tangible costs to both people and wildlife. Alarmingly, HWC primarily involves endangered species and embeds broader environmental impacts on ecosystem equilibrium and biodiversity preservation. The most common HWC incidences undermine human welfare, health and safety; which result in zoonotic diseases, physical injury, and loss of human lives. Sustainability is rooted in the continuous loss of economic revenue due to the damage to property and infrastructure (e.g. agricultural crops, water installation, etc.), livestock depredation, and the transmission of domestic animal diseases (**Figure 1**). In fact, the meat export

#### **Figure 1.**

*The connection between human-mammalian co-existence and its drivers for conflict. Casual interlinkages are illustrated by directional arrows. Consequential variables are highlighted with slanted frames and in gray boxes.*

market sector of South Africa came to a halt in 2008 due to concerns over a possible outbreak of Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (HFMD), known to be spread by ungulates such as wildebeest.
