IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Elliott, W. | |
| Solving conflicts between Asian big cats and humans: a portfolio of conservation action | |
| Full Book | |
As human populations expand and encroach ever further into natural habitats, humans and wildlife are increasingly having to compete over living space and food. Asian big cats are suffering not only from significant habitat loss, but also from a decline in their prey species within the habitat that remains. As a result, cats are moving into more marginal areas searching for food, finding easy prey in domestic livestock and also attacking humans. In some areas, Asian big cats have even been found to use domestic cattle herds to teach their young to hunt, exacerbating the situation by increasing the likelihood that the cubs will kill livestock in later life. Many communities in Asia are heavily dependent on their livestock for sustenance and income, and therefore when livestock predation occurs, cats are captured, killed in retaliation or actively persecuted to prevent similar events happening in the future. These killings are a significant threat to the survival of many Asian big cat species, who are also at risk from more direct poaching for skins or other parts used in Traditional Chinese Medicines. A wide range of different projects to mitigate human-big cat conflicts have been established by WWF and many other conservation organisations, in partnership with several governments throughout the Asian region. A common theme running through most of these programmes is the necessity for full and active participation of all stakeholders, most essentially the affected communities. Ideally, over the long term, the affected communities take on increasing levels of control over the programme, which eventually becomes as internally regulated and self-sustaining as possible. This document is designed to highlight a selection of case studies and sample projects, looking at several innovative solutions to this pressing conservation problem. This document considers only the methods used to lessen the problems arising specifically from the predation of livestock by Asian big cats. We do not outline here any of the specific anti-poaching work that is being undertaken by WWF and many other organisations throughout Asia. Six separate techniques for mitigating human-Asian big cat conflict are outlined. |
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