Current Status of Man and Animal Conflict and e-Parihara in Different Forest Ranges of Karnataka

The increasing demand for forest land, habitat disturbance, and fodder shortages have intensified Man-Animal Conflicts (MAC) worldwide. This study analyzes both qualitative and quantitative data to assess the status of MAC in Karnataka, leveraging 2,03,297 geo-tagged conflict cases are reported by the Karnataka Forest Department's (KFD) since 2014 to 2024. Earlier all the MAC records were manually generated and stored as hardcopies, a traditional method of documentation. To implement advance technologies, which makes data tracking easier, KFD decided to design a digital platform, under e-Governance for timely response on conflict issue and its validation. As a result in 2019, a online database was generated, tested its functioning, and launched as e-Parihara website, and a mobile app for the management of MAC, helps to provide ex-gratia relief for various types of damages caused by wildlife. This paper comprehend the real-time data available since 2019, also digitised data from 2014. The e-Parihara mobile app allows forest officials to document geo-tagged conflict cases with photos and geo-stamped damage details. The limitation of this web portal is access restricted to forest officials for proper documentation. The platform ensures transparency and efficiency by integrating real-time SMS notification alerts for both Forest officials and the applicants about claim progress. The study employs a flowchart on automated workflows to process the ex-gratia compensation claims, based on government directives, and generate the official memorandums (OMs). Data analysis includes percentage calculations of compensation claims across species, litmaps supports the constant rise of MAC since 1928–2024. Majority of conflicts caused, involved in various damage types’ viz. crops, properties, livestock and human related issues are elephants. Elephants are responsible for 74.82% of claims and 68.18% of reported incidents, followed by wild boars (11.61% of claims, 10.86% of incidents) and leopards (10.30% of claims, 8.09% of incidents). Gaur (3.69% of claims, 3.27% of incidents), Tigers (3.41% of claims, 1.34% of incidents), and sloth bears (2.5% of claims, 1.18% of incidents), contributed less. This type of information on MAC indicates a pioneering approach to state-wide MAC management, facilitating targeted resource allocation and actionable strategies. It underscores the need for collaboration between local communities, wildlife experts, and policymakers to ensure sustainable wildlife conservation.