Impact of Human-Wildlife Conflict on Human Lives in Tehri District of Uttarakhand (Western Himalayas), India

In recent decades there has been an increase in the incidences of human wildlife conflicts (HWC) in India with tiger, leopard and elephant being the major cause of concern. Such incidents of conflicts elicit a negative attitude in the community towards wild animals. The present study on HWC was undertaken in Tehri Garhwal, Western Himalaya, India. The aim of this study is to identify (a) the most problematic wild animal in terms of attacks to humans in the study area, (b) annual trend of attacks by leopard towards humas, (c) the time (day or night) and locality/site of most incidences of attacks caused by leopards, and (d) topography of the locality/site where most of the incidents of attacks by leopard on humans took place. Apart from these objectives, we obtained perception of local people about the leopard and possible causes of HWC in the study area. We complied secondary data on HWC records for the period of 2011–2021 maintained by the state Government. We also conducted questionnaire surveys (N = 373) in 236 village council and 137 villagers of the study area during 2021 and 2022. The data about time and locality of attacks by leopards on humans were generated through questionnaire for the period of two years only (2020 and 2021). The mean number of humans killed by the leopards per year during the study period was estimated to be 2.7 ± 0.7 (total incidence 29). Apart from this, 7.8 ± 5.2 persons were injured by the leopards per year during the same period (total incidences 77). The other wildlife, such as bears and elephants, also killed and injured human beings in the study area, but such incidences were quite low. Thus, the leopard was identified as the main problematic wild animal of the area. The trend of human leopard conflicts fluctuated across the years. Most of the attacks by leopards on humans occurred in the vicinity of villages/pathways (N = 21) rather than forests (N = 2) and were too common during the day (21 out of 23). The density of invasive shrub species Lantana camera was found higher in sites of attacks by the leopard than other shrub species. According to the local people’s perception, the development of dams, all-weather roads, railway development, heavy growth of the Lantana camera bush along village pathways, agricultural fields and forest edges and incidences of forest fires contribute to HWC. The outreach programmes focusing on awareness about wildlife and its importance and community-based mitigation measures could be effective in reducing losses caused by HWC.