Tolerating tigers: Gaining local and spiritual perspectives on human-tiger interactions in Sumatra through rural community interviews (original) (raw)
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Conservation Letters, 2018
Tolerance may lessen when wildlife adversely impacts people. Models from psychology can help elucidate how people make judgments, why they act accordingly, and whether beliefs and norms influence support for policy and intervention. Working in a globally important region for tigers, we estimated hunting prevalence for this endangered species and three sympatric taxa using methods for asking sensitive questions. We also investigated the relative strength of ethnicity and social-psychological predictors in influencing intention to hunt. Men's behavioral intention and perceptions differed by species: proconservation values were most prevalent for tiger, weakest for wild boar. Perceived behavioral control was the strongest predictor of huntingintention; affect and injunctive norms were also important. The prominence of affect in determining intention suggests increasing environmental knowledge is unlikely to curb hunting. However, existing norms could be leveraged to incentivize behaviorchange. Integrating behavior-change models into conservation science is crucial where strategies require changes in people's actions.
Addressing human-tiger conflict using socio-ecological information on tolerance and risk
Nature communications, 2018
Tigers are critically endangered due to deforestation and persecution. Yet in places, Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae) continue to coexist with people, offering insights for managing wildlife elsewhere. Here, we couple spatial models of encounter risk with information on tolerance from 2386 Sumatrans to reveal drivers of human-tiger conflict. Risk of encountering tigers was greater around populated villages that neighboured forest or rivers connecting tiger habitat; geographic profiles refined these predictions to three core areas. People's tolerance for tigers was related to underlying attitudes, emotions, norms and spiritual beliefs. Combining this information into socio-ecological models yielded predictions of tolerance that were 32 times better than models based on social predictors alone. Pre-emptive intervention based on these socio-ecological predictions could have averted up to 51% of attacks on livestock and people, saving 15 tigers. Our work provides further ...
Biological Conservation, 2014
This paper provides the first in-depth exploration of tiger killing behaviour in communities bordering the Sundarbans mangrove forest, Bangladesh. Our findings demonstrate the complexity of carnivore killing behaviour in situations of human-wildlife conflict. We find that killings are not purely retaliatory in nature (i.e. driven by a desire for retribution following livestock depredation or attacks on humans by tigers), and that previous negative experience of tigers is not the sole determinant of villagers' acceptance of killing behaviour. Inter-related socio-psychological factors (risk perceptions, beliefs about tigers and the people that kill tigers, general attitude towards tigers), perceived failings on the part of local authorities whom villagers believe should resolve village tiger incidents, perceived personal rewards (financial rewards, enhanced social status, medicinal or protective value of tiger body parts), and contextual factors (the severity and location of tiger incidents) motivate people to kill tigers when they enter villages and foster the widespread acceptance of this behaviour. The complexity of these factors highlights the need for conservation practitioners to explore and understand people's motivations for killing endangered carnivore species, in order to address better the community-led killing of these animals. For the Sundarbans area, knowledge of these motivational factors can be used to develop conservation actions suitable for developing both communities' capacity and, crucially, desire to co-exist with tigers and to respond with non-lethal action to village tiger incidents.
2017
At the end of January 2014, the Indonesian Ulama Council announced a fatwa on Wildlife Conservaton for the Balance of the Ecosystem. In Aceh province, Islam is strongly adhered to and it is expected that the fatwa would be benefcial to conservaton in the province. We tested the effect of this fatwa in relaton to attude, norm and percepton of the communites in relaton to conservaton initatves. The study was conducted at the villages of Ulu Masen, Keumala Damlam and Pidie Jaya in April, 2015. The result of t test then partally there is signifcant relaton (signifcance) between attude, norm and behavior with intenton with value p 0.05. In the F test results together to four independent variables have a signifcant relatonship (signifcance) that is the value p 0,000 < 0,05. In the summary model there is a R number of 0.668. This shows that there is a good relatonship between the four variables with the intenton. While on the determinaton analysis R² illustrates all the independent varia...
Human tiger conflict and its perception in Bardia National Park, Nepal
Human-wildlife conflict is a significant problem that often results in retaliatory killing of predators. Such conflict is particularly pronounced between humans and tigers Panthera tigris because of fatal attacks by tigers on humans. We investigated the incidence and perception of human-tiger conflict in the buffer zone of Bardia National Park, Nepal, by interviewing 273 local householders and 27 key persons (e.g. representatives of local communities, Park officials). Further information was compiled from the Park's archives. The annual loss of livestock attributable to tigers was 0.26 animals per household, amounting to an annual loss of 2% of livestock. Livestock predation rates were particularly high in areas with low abundance of natural prey. During 1994-2007 12 people were killed and a further four injured in tiger attacks. Nevertheless, local people generally had a positive attitude towards tiger conservation and were willing to tolerate some loss of livestock but not human casualties. This positive attitude indicates the potential for implementation of appropriate conservation measures and we propose mitigation strategies such as education, monetary compensation and monitoring of tigers.
Toward Human-Carnivore Coexistence: Understanding Tolerance for Tigers in Bangladesh
PLOS ONE, 2016
Fostering local community tolerance for endangered carnivores, such as tigers (Panthera tigris), is a core component of many conservation strategies. Identification of antecedents of tolerance will facilitate the development of effective tolerance-building conservation action and secure local community support for, and involvement in, conservation initiatives. We use a stated preference approach for measuring tolerance, based on the 'Wildlife Stakeholder Acceptance Capacity' concept, to explore villagers' tolerance levels for tigers in the Bangladesh Sundarbans, an area where, at the time of the research, human-tiger conflict was severe. We apply structural equation modeling to test an a priori defined theoretical model of tolerance and identify the experiential and psychological basis of tolerance in this community. Our results indicate that beliefs about tigers and about the perceived current tiger population trend are predictors of tolerance for tigers. Positive beliefs about tigers and a belief that the tiger population is not currently increasing are both associated with greater stated tolerance for the species. Contrary to commonly-held notions, negative experiences with tigers do not directly affect tolerance levels; instead, their effect is mediated by villagers' beliefs about tigers and risk perceptions concerning human-tiger conflict incidents. These findings highlight a need to explore and understand the socio-psychological factors that encourage tolerance towards endangered species. Our research also demonstrates the applicability of this approach to tolerance research to a wide range of socioeconomic and cultural contexts and reveals its capacity to enhance carnivore conservation efforts worldwide.
To date, most studies of the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris) are of biological research, techniques, conservation, population modeling, or tigerhuman conflicts. Few studies have attempted to understand the rural population that share a region with the tigers, and some of the villages are even displaced in the name of conservation. Hence, we undertook a survey of 10 villages that are located in the buffer zone of the Bor Tiger Reserve (BTR). Most of the villagers interviewed had encountered tigers, most considered them a boon and beneficial to their livelihood, and almost all displayed environmental awareness and stressed the necessity to conserve tigers in order to ensure their own continued survival. Some stressed the religious connotation and significance because the tiger is the animal of transport of the Goddess Durga. A minority expressed a negative attitude that resulted not from damages incurred by the tigers, but from discontent following inept handling of property losses by the authorities, who did not provide compensation in time, or paid only a small part of the original value of the loss. We conclude that in order to ensure the continued goodwill of the local stakeholders, it is important that the state and national governments react in a timely manner and ensure that the farmer is compensated in full. Support of the villagers who cohabit with tigers will ensure the continued survival of the two entities.
Enabling sustainable community-based human-tiger conflict management in Seluma, Bengkulu, Indonesia
Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity
Human-wildlife conflict has emerged as one of the major threats to the global population of large carnivores. This condition applies to the endemic and Critically Endangered Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae). Although efforts to resolve conflict have been made from time to time, a sustainable solution is still very much needed, particularly given the unique characteristics of each case and area of conflict. A community-based approach to human-tiger conflict management can become a local-based solution towards a more sustainable management. This study aims to identify needs, gaps, and next steps related to collective action and sustainable community-based human-tiger conflict management in Seluma, Bengkulu, using a qualitative approach with literature review followed by semi-structure interview method. This study's findings show that in the context of community-based human-tiger conflict management, the needs and gaps are still identified, particularly in: training and capacity building, adaptive management and applied research, communication and information exchange, policy frameworks and legal instruments, as well as funding. To make community-based human-tiger conflict management sustainable, the strength and sustainability of: coherent legal instruments; commitment, involvement, active role, communication, and support from all stakeholders, and; comprehensive environmental, social and economic data-based planning; need to be ensured.
Human–tiger Panthera tigris conflict and its perception in Bardia National Park, Nepal
Oryx, 2014
Human–wildlife conflict is a significant problem that often results in retaliatory killing of predators. Such conflict is particularly pronounced between humans and tigers Panthera tigris because of fatal attacks by tigers on humans. We investigated the incidence and perception of human–tiger conflict in the buffer zone of Bardia National Park, Nepal, by interviewing 273 local householders and 27 key persons (e.g. representatives of local communities, Park officials). Further information was compiled from the Park's archives. The annual loss of livestock attributable to tigers was 0.26 animals per household, amounting to an annual loss of 2% of livestock. Livestock predation rates were particularly high in areas with low abundance of natural prey. During 1994–2007 12 people were killed and a further four injured in tiger attacks. Nevertheless, local people generally had a positive attitude towards tiger conservation and were willing to tolerate some loss of livestock but not hum...
We analyzed characteristics of the problem-causing tigers in Chitwan National Park (Nepal) to determine if specific groups or individuals in the source population have higher probability to get involved in conflicts with humans. From 2007 to 2016 we identified a total of 22 such tigers including 13 that killed humans, six serial livestock killers and three tigers that threatened human safety (with no reported human and livestock casualty). Thirteen of these tigers were controlled or killed and four were relocated. We compared a subset of 15 'problem tigers' involved in conflict between 2009 and 2013 with the Chit-wan's tiger population obtained from three different sessions of camera trapping (2009, 2010 and 2013). We found that <5% of this source population (tigers recorded in camera trap) were involved in conflict. We conclude that transient tigers without a territory or physically impaired animals are more likely to be involved in conflict and recommend an early warning system be adopted to anticipate conflicts before they occur. This system should include regular monitoring and timely identification of problem tigers followed by decisive management action to either remove the tiger or encourage local people to modify their behavior to reduce the risk of conflict.