Study on Human-Monkey conflict in the Nagaon district of Assam: local mitigation measures

Human-monkey conflict is a serious issue that causes a negative impact on both human and the conservation of primates. A study was conducted from January 2023 to May 2023 in Nagaon and Kaliabar subdivision of Assam, India to assess the cause and consequences of human-monkey conflicts. Data were collected by interviewing local people with structured questionnaire set followed by focused group discussion. Attitudes of locals towards crop damage inflicted by the monkeys were assessed and recorded. The local deterrent methods for reducing crop damage and the management strategy adopted by the local people was also assessed. This study indicates that macaques in rural areas affect people’s daily lives and income. The study showed the quantum of harm done to human due to macaques mainly in the areas of Nagaon and Kaliabar subdivision of Assam, and people’s perceptions of the severity of warfare. A wide range of protection measures was used by people to protect their gardens or homes from macaques. Guarding was the most frequent strategy, and the differences in the time spent by macaques in gardens/farms when people were present were much lower than when they were absent. However, people felt that guarding was a taxing method as it meant that someone had to be present all the time, and this affected their day-to-day lives. Controlling the increase of macaque populations became an alternative that the villagers thought could be an important measure of decreasing the magnitude of the problem. However, individuals had been unsure as to how this can be executed and didn’t see the government or wooded area branch taking any foreseeable steps on this course. Moving macaques to forest reserves become what humans favoured as a mitigation strategy and strongly believed that macaques in their villages ought to be relocated elsewhere in the wildlife sanctuary.