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Dryad

Human wildlife conflict in Shuklaphanta National Park

Data files

Mar 24, 2023 version files 18.24 KB

Abstract

Human-wildlife interactions occur when humans and wildlife coexist and share common resources including food or shelter. Increasing wildlife populations within protected areas can also increase interactions with humans living adjacent to these areas, resulting in conflicts including human casualty, livestock depredation, crop damage, and property loss. We collected the data between 28 September 2021 to 8 January 2022. We analyzed six years of human-wildlife conflict data from 2016–2021 in the buffer zone of Shuklaphanta National Park and conducted a questionnaire survey to investigate factors influencing human-wildlife conflicts. The analyses were done using descriptive statistics and generalized linear modeling. People were attacked primarily by wild boar (Sus scrofa). Mostly, the livestock were killed by leopard (Panthera pardus), and among these most were sheep or goats killed near ShNP during summer. Crops were most frequently damaged by Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), followed by wild boar. The greatest economic losses were from damage to rice, followed by sugarcane and wheat. Asian elephant was the only reported species to cause structural damage to property (e.g., homes). The majority of respondents considered that the mitigation techniques that are currently in practice are effective to reduce conflicts. However, the effectiveness of the mitigation techniques is species-specific, and we recommend the use of more efficacious deterrents (e.g., electric fencing) for large herbivores and mesh wire fencing partially buried in the ground. Effective collaboration among different tiers of government, non-governmental organizations, civil societies, and affected communities is important to share the best practices and continue to apply innovative methods for impactful mitigation of human-wildlife conflicts in the region. The dataset contains this information for 300 households around Shuklaphanta National Park region.