Human-Wildlife Conflict

  • Practice Question: Rising sea levels are due to: 

  1. Increased glaciation

  2. Warmer oceans

  3. More oxygen in the ocean

  4. All of the above

  5. None of the above


Early Conflicts

  • 1st evidence over 1 million years ago – Hominid child killed by leopard

  • Pliocene & Pleistocene: small size & hunter-gatherer lifestyle

  • Early humans both predator & prey

Transition to Agrilculture

  • Conflict intensified

  • Require maintenance and protection of herds and crops 

  • Venomous snakes

Wolf-Livestock Conflict

  • Higher in areas of:

    • High wolf density

    • High livestock density

    • Intermediate proportionate areas of agriculture

  • Recurrent 

  • Best to remove problem 

Aquatic Conflicts

  • Shark tacos

  • Search for common food sources

Causes of Conflicts 

  • Decreased abundance of prey

  • Loss of habitat

  • Competition for shared resources

  • Livestock

  • Financial losses

  • Human intolerance of wildlife

Attacks on Human Beings

  1. Predatory

  2. Territorial

  3. Defensive

Conflicts from Transportation

  • Roads 

    • Divided habitat

    • Supply of food along highways

  • Birds & aircraft

Conflicts & Climate Change

  • Increased interactions between humans & wildlife

  • Scarcity of resources

Conflict Mitigation

  • Lethal & nonlethal 

  • Fences 

  • Lighting systems

  • Human surveillance

  • Disturbance mechanisms

  • Reintroduction of natural prey

  • Translocation

  • Compensation