Spatio-temporal patterns of human-carnivore conflict and mitigation in Pakistan

Human-carnivore conflict is a noteworthy rural livelihood issue as livestock of local communities living around protected areas are depredated by wild carnivores, which are the persecuted by local communities, in response. The current study aimed at investigating the patterns, perception, economic losses, and mitigation of human wildlife conflict in Pakistan through meta-analysis of published literature and using the questionnaire survey method. We retrieved data from the published and unpublished sources, and from records of provincial wildlife departments. In addition, we also collected empirical data from different households falling in the range of targeted carnivore species and filled 331 semi-structured questionaries. Based on the activities and home range of the predator species, conflict density maps for each predator species were developed. Our analysis revealed that five major carnivore species are involved in the human-wildlife conflict, namely Asiatic black bear (Ursus thi-betanus), Himalayan brown bear (Ursus arctos), common leopard (Panthera pardus), grey wolf (Canis lupus) and snow leopard (Panthera uncia). About 7214 livestock heads were reportedly lost during past two decades because of these five carnivore species. The domestic goat depredation was maximum (51.08 %, n = 3685), followed by sheep (27.09 %, n = 1954), cow (11.37 %, n = 820), buffalo (2.34 %, n = 169), dogs (2.05 %, n = 148), poultry (0.87 %, n = 63), donkey (4.28 %, n = 348), and horse (0.37 %, n = 27), causing a total financial loss of USD 1.87 million. Maximum livestock depredation occurred in summer season (50.79 %), at night (59.92 %) time and outside the village (51.22 %). Majority of the people showed negative attitude towards the predators, and they did not know about the conservation status and the authorities to report for conservation of the predator species. Most of the respondents were unaware about the possible management of the predator species for the co-existence of human and wildlife in the same landscape. However, majority of respondents (38.3 %) thought that livestock depredation by carnivore species can be controlled through payment of insurance compensation to the person who lost its livestock during carnivore attacks, followed by restoration of natural habitat (20.1 %), translocation of predator (16 %), and improved husbandry practices like predator proof corals (8 %). The study concludes that buffer zones of the protected areas are the hotspots for human-wildlife conflict and to avoid such conflict in future, special mitigation measures should be adapted, and regulations should be developed to minimize the niche overlap of the livestock and wildlife prey species, thereby to avoid any competition for food resources.