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Menace of elephants and farmers
Why is it in News?
- Herd of 17 elephants strayed into villages of Andhra Pradesh from forest of Karnataka.
Details:
- Man-animal conflict refers to the interaction between wild animals and people and the resultant negative impact on people or their resources, or wild animals or their habitat.
- It occurs when wildlife needs overlap with those of human populations, creating costs to residents and wild animals.
- Causes:
(1) Habitat fragmentation and shrinking of habitat.
(2) Increased disturbance: It is due to collection of fuel wood, fodder, NTFPs, water etc. from the forests by tribal.
(3) Changing crop patterns: People have started growing commercial crops like sugarcane and banana near forest areas which provide good hiding place for the wild animals like wild boar, sloth bear and panther.
(4) Water scarcity during summer
- Impact:
(1) Injury or loss of human lives: People living near forest areas are at risk of attack by carnivores.
(2) Crop damage: Destruction of crops by wild animals can result in loss of income.
(3) Loss of livestock: killing of livestock by carnivores can destroy income source of agro-pastoralists who depend exclusively on cultivation and production of livestock.
- Damage to property.