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Singh, S.K.; Vipin,; Mishra, S.; Pandey, P.; Kumar, V.P.; Goyal, S.P.
Understanding human-tiger conflict around Corbett Tiger Reserve India: a case study using forensic genetics
2015  Wildlife Biology in Practice (11): 1-11

Human-tiger conflicts have been a major issue in the Terai-Arc Landscape (TAL), in northern India, ever since human settled in the region. For managing such issues, authorities are compelled to eliminate/relocate tigers whenever there is recurrent killing of human beings. But identifying the individual tiger/tigress, involved in conflicts has remained a challenge for wildlife manager as misidentification may lead to the elimination of the wrong individual that do not mitigate the conflict at all. In the present study, we demonstrate the utility of molecular tools by using whatever pre-operational evidences could be collected from a tiger that was eventually killed as a man-eater through a case study from the TAL. In this instance, a tiger attacked and killed four human in different incidents over a period of 3 months (November-December 2010 and January 2011) in and around Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR), India. The tiger was finally eliminated because it was declared as man eater. Intensive collection of biological samples during conflict period was not done, hence, only a few samples were collected. These were collected from attack sites where the tiger was wounded (n=2) and the site where it was killed (n=2). For each of the sample, we could determine the species, sex and individual identity of the animal involved using molecular markers, i.e. mitochondrial, sex and microsatellite. We found that all the samples came from a male tiger and that it was the same individual that had been involved in the attacks, been wounded and shot dead. We suggest that biological samples, such as hair that had been shed and scats be collected intensively from resting places and blood stains across conflict zones. We also suggest that the genetic identity of the tigers in Uttarakhand be established and so as this information may be used to establish a link with individuals involved in conflicts so that effective strategies may be developed to manage human-wildlife conflicts in TAL corridors, where such conflicts are relatively more frequent.

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