IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Rawshan, K.; Feeroz, M.M.; Hasan, M.K. | |
| Human-carnivore conflicts in Bangladesh | |
| 2012 Tigerpaper (39): 17-21 | |
The human-carnivore conflict is now a burning issue because it pits a group of people against carnivores and also against the people who want to conserve and restore carnivores (Torres et al., 1996; Bangs et al., 1998; Berg, 1998; Karanth and Madhusudan, 2002). It is a worldwide problem (Treves and Karanth, 2003). In Europe and North America wolves (_Canis lupus_) and bears (Ursus spp.) kill sheep; in Africa many carnivores prey on cattle and goats. And in Asia tigers (_Panthera tigris_) and leopards (_Panthera pardus_) sometimes kill livestock (Jackson and Nowell, 1996; Karanth and Madhusudan, 2002). Bangladesh is a small and densely populated country in South Asia. The total area of the country is 147,570 kmý, which contains more than 154 million people (1,044 people/kmý). Though a small country, it is home to 121 species of mammals, 690 birds (380 residents, 209 winter visitors, 11 summer visitors and 90 vagrants) and 154 reptiles (Khan, 2008; Feeroz et al., 2011). There are about 226 carnivore species worldwide (Treves and Karanth, 2003) and Bangladesh has 17 species from three families (Khan, 2008). Among these carnivores 2 species are critically endangered, 7 are endangered and other species are facing different levels of threats (IUCN-BD, 2003). The establishment of new settlements, industrialization, rapid urbanization and unplanned development programs are destroying wildlife habitats at an alarming rate. Moreover, the heavy dependence on forests for fuelwood, timber, honey, grass and other forest produce is also altering, and in some places destroying, wildlife habitats. Illicit felling, hunting and poaching are causing ecological imbalances among wild animals as well as to carnivores habitats. As a consequence, carnivore habitat loss, fragmentation and shortage of prey species are increasing day by day. Humans exploit resources from the core habitats of carnivores and eventually carnivores enter the human localities for their prey. This increases human deaths, injuries, livestock depredation, damage to human property and also carnivore deaths and injuries. The aims of this study were to evaluate the trends of human-carnivore conflict, causal factors and effects of the conflict on both of the species in the last two decades. |
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