Human-Wildlife Conflicts - Research Paper Example

Sustainable Strategies in Wildlife Conservation: Living with the Lions Executive Summary Human-wildlife conflicts have been at the epitome of the complexity in the ecosystems that dominate the regions of the world. The movements of animals across the societies cause many conflicts between the wildlife and humans. The relationship between the people and the animals within the communities are defined by the complexities in the behavior of the animals and humans. There have been persistent struggles for food, habitat and resources between people and the wildlife. The lions are no exception. The lions are of diverse traits, which demand a lot from the human environment. The often-perceived disagreement between the wildlife and humans lead to a great conflict. Sustainability implies that the lions should be capacitated into the societies without compromising their existence and peace. The frequencies of human-lion conflicts have been on the increase in the recent years. The conservation strategies should be that jeopardize the existence of the animals and the people. The sustainable strategies in the conservation of the entire environment imply the use of eco-friendly measures to arrest the situations of environmental destruction that trigger human-wildlife conflicts. The wildlife sanctuaries should be fenced with electric wires so that the lions do not scheme out of the ranches to reduce the causes of the eco-conflicts. Humans, under these regulations, they should be educated on the ways of dealing with the lions without causing harm to them. Introduction People strive to prevent the animals from destroying their environment while the animals adapt to the harsh environment created by the people to be more wild and destructive. The counteraction between the two entities, humans and wildlife, leads to a more coarse coexistence in such ecosystems (Powell, 55). To reverse the tremendous effects of the lions on the human environments and vice versa, conservation of the lions need to be addressed. The lions require to be protected from the effects of human activities in the ecosystems. This is a conflict mitigation measure as the continuous collisions of the people and lions as the lions are conserved through proper fencing of the wildlife territories. The infringement of the territories by either the lions or the people causes the conflict (Quammen, par 53-55). Literature Review and the Historical Background Human-wildlife conflicts is not a contemporary issue as the explosion of human population began to affect the wildlife areas long in the mid of 21st century. Different scholars and academic professionals have given focus on the causes of human-wildlife conflicts. Some have talked on the issues of effects of the conflicts on the environment and the entire ecological systems. The specifications have addressed the issues and concerns over the link between the humans and the lions in the societies. Addressing and suggesting the concern of the need to address the conflict between humans and lions. There have been documents and public address on the need to conserve the carnivores, like the lions. The conservation of lions was a book that focused on the ways to reduce the human-lion conflict. My paper identifies the need to address the issues on sustainable methods of reversing, curbing the human-lion conflict while conserving the lions (Cromsigt 544). Research Questions In this study, I have sought to answer the following questions in relation to the theme of the study. 1. What are the major causes of the human-wildlife conflicts? The answer to which is a tip to realize the solutions to the problems caused by human-conflict. 2. What are the effects of human-lion conflicts? 3. What are the potential solutions to the problems of this form of conflict within the societies? 4. How can we as humans achieve a sustainable equilibrium to resolve the conflicts? 5. What are the measures that the authorities should take to reverse the frequency of the occurrence of the conflicts? 6. When these questions are considerably and correctly answered then the solution with great concern of sustainability is achieved. The changes in the ecosystems have always caused the movement of the lions out of the sanctuaries to the human environment. The interaction between the lions and people in the societies that result into the negative impacts on either of the entities is the source of the human-lion conflict. The growing human population can also cause the conflicts as the people encroach into the wildlife ecosystems. The interaction may not be positive to the lion animal and the humans. Humans perceive the lions as being destructive to the resources meant for their livelihoods. The overlap of the human populations into the well-established animal territory reduces the availability of resources for the lions and the humans are at the risky verge to lose the sources of their livelihoods (Karanth 182). Human Population Explosions Human population extensions are seen as the major cause of human-wildlife conflicts as people encroach the sanctuaries and destroy the environment of the animals. Both the animals and human’s populations increase rapidly increasing the interaction between them. The increased interaction causes more frequent physical conflicts ion such environments. When humans design the natural to fit and meet their demands in the environments, the habitats and resources of the lions and other wildlife are destroyed. The condition created by the humans, who try to adapt the environment to suit their needs, puts the wildlife in a situation of forced adaptability. The animals tend to change in the ways of their living so that they adapt into the new environment with new demands. The Change of Animal Behavior The designing of the environment buy the people compels the lions in the area to acquire adaptive strategies to help them survive in the formatted environment. The adaptation of the animals involves the acquisition of traits to defend themselves from the aggressive humans. One way the lion adapts to the environment is by being hostile to the people. This is to scare away the people from the territories, which are shared. The destruction of the habitats and the resources in the territories compels the lions to begin eating the fabricated crops. The lions intrude into the human dominated environments to compete for the resources that the people create to satisfy their needs. The Effects of Human Encroachment The byproducts of human activities in the interrupted environment present un-natural opportunity to the lions to acquire their foods and shelter. This leads to the increased interference of the ecosystem by the intensified interaction putting both the lions and humans at the edge of splashing conflicts. The lives of the people are at great risks as the ecosystem services are not delivered. The health statuses of the people derail as the lions destroy the sources of livelihoods. The lives of the lions are at great danger as the resources are destroyed. This creates an environment with intense tensions at the resources and the habitats. The people and lions compete for the already little resources (Pettigrew 210). The Effects of Human-Lion Conflict The human-lion conflicts may lead to the death of the lions. Lions are known to be one of the fiercest animals on the surface of the earth. They predators to humans and their presence pose a lot of fear to the lives of the people. This creates vigilance over the presence of the lions in the societies and makes people to kill them before they are preyed upon. The continued destruction of the habitats and resources put the lions at the risk of homelessness. The restlessness in the lions and the competition of the resources leads to their deaths. With the principle of the survival for the fittest, most of the lions, die due to competition for natural resources and basic needs to source the livelihoods (Karanth 171-174). Destruction of Properties When the populations of the people outflow into the animal territories, the configured environment may be damaged. The animals encroach into to the human environs to destroy the crops, water resources, eat other domestic animals and destruction of home fences. The lions feed on the crops and totally destroy their life. The creation of the microclimate within the humans’ territory compels the lions to feed on the crops for the period until the other animals. The conflict causes injuries to the people as the struggle involves physical confrontation with the lion. The reactions of the people on the conflict lead to the injuring of the lions and the death of the livestock is also guaranteed as the lions are predators (Trinkel 345). The Realization of the objective of the Research The major objective of the Research proposal is to identify the possible measures to conserve sustainably the lions and the entire ecology. This is the ultimate solution of solving the human-lion conflict as it addresses all the parties involved. This strategy provides a platform of anchoring all the ecological, economical and social factors (Lamarque 140). The fencing of the wildlife territories with electric wires or cables is sustainable method to conserve the ecology and its components. This proposal will include a forum on educating the public on the land use planning and proper utilization of resources on the environment. Land Use Planning gives the people the skills to use the land sustainably and this reduces the chances of intruding into the territory of the lions and other wildlife (Karanth 181). In the cases where the people have already inhabited the areas that need to be conserved, the people are compensated so that they can resettle without difficulty in other places. There should be Community-based Natural Resources Management to enlighten the people on the significance of conserving the environment as the proposal outlines. The production of environmental and wildlife friendly products to reverse the progress of the wildlife encroachment by humans reduce the probability of the conflicts over the little resources for the people and the lions. Educating the people on the significance of friendly relationship with wildlife, make it easy to understand the need to avoid such conflicts (Klenke, 110). Methodology: Technical Approach Conservation of wildlife is a wide topic on social sciences that need to project on the pictorial designs. This means that information gathered is to taken through the photography. This would present candidly the areas of human-wildlife conflicts in the regions around the world. The taking of pictures gives first-hand data and information. There is filling in of questionnaires by the conductor of the research. This would give the answers on the questions such as the causes of human encroachment into the wildlife territories. Statistics on the other hand helped to wrap the information in the past trends; it is based on statistics that the reality in the gap in the knowledge is identified. Data Collection The data on the information about the level of the human-Lion conflicts ids to be extracted through statistical tables. The use of surveys is very important in the collecting process in that the researcher is able to recognize the changes in the ecosystems that have been caused by the conflicts. The aerial mechanism surveyor allows the person to view all the features that are about the region of conflict. The survey results are tallied alongside the findings from the statistics, questionnaires and the interviews. These give comprehensive information on the human-wildlife conflicts over past times. Conclusion Human-lion conflicts are caused by the complexities in the nature of the two organisms. The lions are complicated and fearsome animals and the complexity intensifies when at the presence of people. The encroachment of the people into the wildlife sanctuaries gives them a task to fight with the lions the ecological niches. The continuous confrontation demands for a struggle to survive (Schoe 155). The existence with the predators such the lion puts the people into the risks of losing their lives. The man consequently gets out hunting to kill the lions which should not be the case. Works cited Cromsigt, Joris P.G.M., et al. "Hunting For Fear: Innovating Management Of Human-Wildlife Conflicts." Journal Of Applied Ecology. Vol.3 (2013). Pp. 544. Karanth, Krithi K., et al. "Patterns Of Human–Wildlife Conflicts And Compensation: Insights From Western Ghats Protected Areas." Biological Conservation vol. 166.(2013). Pp. 175-185. Lamarque, Franc?ois. Human-wildlife Conflict in Africa: Causes, Consequences and Management Strategies. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2009. Print. Klenke, Reinhard A. Human-Wildlife Conflicts In Europe : Fisheries And Fish-Eating Vertebrates As A Model Case. Berlin: Springer, 2007. Pettigrew, Melissa, et al. "Human-Carnivore Conflict In China: A Review Of Current Approaches With Recommendations For Improved Management." Integrative Zoology. Vol. 7.no.2 (2012). Pp. 210. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/lion-conservation/quammen-text Powell, Roger A., and Luigi Boitani. Carnivore Ecology And Conservation : A Handbook Of Techniques. Oxford: Oxford University Quammen, David. "LIVING WITH Lions." National Geographic vol. 224.no2 (2013). Pp. 52-77. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 Nov. 2013 Schoe, Marjolein, Hans H. de Iongh, and Barbara M. Croes. "Humans Displacing Lions And Stealing Their Food In Benoue National Park, North Cameroon." African Journal Of Ecology vol. 47.no. 3 (2009). Pp. 445-447 Trinkel, Martina. "Climate Variability, Human Wildlife Conflict And Population Dynamics Of Lions Panthera Leo.(Report)." Naturwissenschaften, vol. 4 (2013). Pp. 345 Read More