Adhikari Jagan Nath, Bhattarai Bishnu Prasad, Thapa Tej Bahadur
Central Department of Zoology, Institute of Science and Technology, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Kathmandu, 44600, Nepal.
Department of Zoology, Birendra Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University, Bharatpur, Chitwan, 44200, Nepal.
Heliyon. 2024 Feb 16;10(4):e26386. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e26386. eCollection 2024 Feb 29.
Crop damage, predation on domestic animals and human attacks are often associated with human-wildlife conflict. The abundance and encounter rate of wild mammals are often associated with human wildlife conflict. Crop damage, livestock depredation and human injury and their relation with environmental factors and encounter rate of the mammals was evaluated in the central region of Chitwan Annapurna Landscape. The abundance and the encounter rate of large mammals were determined by dividing the study area into four different study blocks (A, B, C and D) based on river course and topography. A total of 150 transects (average length = 3.18 ± 0.11 km), were administrated for data collection. Similarly, information on human-wildlife conflict was collected using 600 semi-structured questionnaires (150 from each block). The chital was the most abundant mammal (encounter rate (ER) = 1.49 and relative abundance (RA) = 55.45%) in block A whereas muntjac had the highest encounter rate in blocks B, C and D (ER = 0.34, 0.31, 0.79 respectively) but the relative abundance of rhesus was comparatively higher in blocks B, C and D. The signs of tiger were reported from block A only whereas signs of leopard were reported from all blocks. But signs of Himalayan black bear were reported from B, C and D. The encounter rate of the mammals correlated with the monetary loss caused by them. Greater one-horned rhino, wild pig and chital in lowland and monkeys, northern red muntjac, and Himalayan black bear in mid-hills (blocks B, C and D) were the principal crop raiders with a total average annual loss of US$ 11.45 per household. Similarly, the total annual monetary loss by livestock depredation was US$ 76.60 per household. This study evaluated the encounter rate of mammals and their effects on the conflict with people. However, the negative effects arrived from human-wildlife conflicts always threaten large mammals. Hence, this study suggests future intensive studies related to mitigation and prevention methods to mitigate the issues of human-wildlife conflicts.
农作物受损、家畜被捕食以及人类受到攻击等情况常常与人类和野生动物的冲突相关联。野生哺乳动物的数量和相遇率往往与人类和野生动物的冲突有关。在奇特旺-安纳布尔纳景观中部地区，对农作物受损、家畜被捕食、人类受伤情况及其与环境因素和哺乳动物相遇率之间的关系进行了评估。根据河道和地形将研究区域划分为四个不同的研究区块（A、B、C和D），以此确定大型哺乳动物的数量和相遇率。总共设置了150条样带（平均长度 = 3.18 ± 0.11千米）用于数据收集。同样，通过600份半结构化问卷（每个区块150份）收集了有关人类与野生动物冲突的信息。水鹿是A区块中数量最多的哺乳动物（相遇率（ER）= 1.49且相对丰度（RA）= 55.45%），而赤麂在B、C和D区块的相遇率最高（分别为ER = 0.34、0.31、0.79），但恒河猴在B、C和D区块的相对丰度相对较高。仅在A区块发现了老虎的踪迹，而在所有区块都发现了豹的踪迹。但在B、C和D区块发现了喜马拉雅黑熊的踪迹。哺乳动物的相遇率与它们造成的经济损失相关。低地的大独角犀、野猪和水鹿以及中山地区（B、C和D区块）的猴子、赤麂和喜马拉雅黑熊是主要的农作物破坏者，每户家庭年均总损失为11.45美元。同样，家畜被捕食造成的每户家庭年均经济损失为76.60美元。本研究评估了哺乳动物的相遇率及其对与人类冲突的影响。然而，人类与野生动物冲突带来的负面影响始终威胁着大型哺乳动物。因此，本研究建议未来开展与缓解和预防措施相关的深入研究，以减轻人类与野生动物冲突问题。
