04/16/2019
Is preventing human-wildlife conflict a social science? Yes!!
Bears, cougars and wolves come into conflict with humans for a variety of reasons and the type of conflict, both real and perceived, is also variable. Some general principles apply to all three species though. First, humans develop and occupy space that is part of the animals’ habitat and home range. Unless wildlife is extirpated from the landscape or completely excluded from its previous habitat, it will continue to explore and utilize the human-altered environment as much as possible. This is especially true of communities with green corridors and no rural buffer between them and the surrounding intact wilderness.
Second, wildlife gradually becomes habituated to human presence in the landscape when it poses no obvious threat. This happens when humans don’t see the animal and when humans ignore or entice the animal. The wildlife then gradually loses its innate fear of humans and become much more likely to forage and live in human developments.
Third is conditioning to non-natural, human supplied food sources. This can be directly as in garbage, fruit trees, livestock and pets or indirectly in the form of urban deer, raccoons, rats and other prey animals feeding on human foods. These food sources are usually considerably easier to obtain and often higher calorie than wild food sources. Wildlife instinctually seeks the lowest risk/highest calorie food source and this instinct often ends in conflict with humans.
Conflicts between humans and wildlife are becoming an increasing global concern, particularly as they affect populations of large carnivores. Human activity and extensive land development causes habitat loss and fragmentation (Saunders et al. 1991) particularly as humans extend themselves beyond urban town sites into neighbouring wilderness areas. The increase of people into wildlife habitats in combination with habituated and food conditioned animals (e.g., Whittaker and Knight 1998; Smith et al. 2005) has resulted in a growing interface and greater frequency of intensified conflicts (Treves and Karanth 2003; Quigley and Herrero 2008).
Article written by Crystal McMillan
Bear Smart BC Consulting
