Human-Wildlife Conflict - Sonam Rinchen

Over 60% of the country’s population depends on agriculture and livestock for a living. Farms are surrounded by d...

Over 60% of the country’s population depends on agriculture and livestock for a living. Farms are surrounded by diverse wildlife habitats and make it look beautiful. It still has its disadvantages. Wild animals feed on crops grown with a lot of sweat and hard work. It frustrates the farmers.

Last time while I visited my maternal grandfather’s village, I spotted a deer in a wheat field. I found it really beautiful. After a few minutes, I realized how my view is completely different from that of farmer’s. I jumped into their shoes and felt how painful they would feel when they see their hard earned crops getting eaten by the animal.

Wild animals are big pests to their crops, deadly predators to their livestock and also their own lives. In the south of our country, elephants have been destroying their crops, houses and even claimed some lives.

Wild animals feeding on domestic animals is yet another major problem. Around 1,375 domestic animals were recorded killed. Majority has been killed by Leopards (70%), followed by tigers (19%), bears (8%) and snow leopards (2%).

In order to confront the challenges, electric fences have been built, scarecrows installed and some even guard the farm at night. All these efforts, however, have not been adequate to keep the wildlife away. Therefore, it calls for some more solutions. Introduction of insurance scheme for animal-induced damage, deployment of technological censors and building natural barriers such as bee keeping etc. are being put to test elsewhere. An opportunity for us to emulate.

Hope we continue with our efforts to look for more ideas and solutions to address the issue for posterity. Until then we would not be really living in harmony with the wildlife, rather we would continue to be in conflict.