Human-wildlife conflict is a major issue in conservation. As people encroach into natural habitats, and as conservation efforts restore wildlife to areas where they may have been absent for generations, contact between people and wild animals is growing. Some species, even the beautiful and endangered, can have serious impacts on human lives and livelihoods. Tigers kill people, elephants destroy crops and African wild dogs devastate sheep herds left unattended. Historically, people have responded to these threats by killing wildlife wherever possible, and this has led to the endangerment of many species that are difficult neighbours. The urgent need to conserve such species, however, demands coexistence of people and endangered wildlife. This book presents a variety of solutions to human-wildlife conflicts, including novel and traditional farming practices, offsetting the costs of wildlife damage through hunting and tourism, and the development of local and national policies.

Conflicts about wildlife are usually portrayed and understood as resulting from the negative impacts of wildlife on human livelihoods or property. However, a greater depth of analysis reveals that many instances of human-wildlife conflict are often better understood as people-people conflict, wherein there is a clash of values between different human groups. Understanding Conflicts About Wildlife unites academics and practitioners from across the globe to develop a holistic view of these interactions. It considers the political and social dimensions of ‘human-wildlife conflicts’ alongside effective methodological approaches, and will be of value to academics, conservationists and policy makers.

Presents solutions to turn conflict into tolerance and coexistence, with an emphasis on the human dimensions of human-wildlife interactions.

As more and more people crowd onto less and less land, incidences of human-wildlife conflicts will only increase. A comprehensive overview of this emerging field, Resolving Human-Wildlife Conflicts: The Science of Wildlife Damage Management discusses the issues facing wildlife managers and anyone else dealing with interactions between wildlife and

Wild animals raid crops, attack livestock, and sometimes threaten people. Conflicts with wildlife are widespread, assume a variety of forms, and elicit a range of human responses. Wildlife pests are frequently demonized and resisted by local communities while routinely 'controlled' by state authorities. However, to the great concern of conservationists, the history of many people-wildlife conflicts lies in human encroachment into wildlife territory. In Natural Enemies the authors place the analytical focus on the human dimension of these conflicts - an area often neglected by specialists in applied ecology and wildlife management - and on their social and political contexts. Case studies of specific conflicts are drawn from Africa, Asia, Europe and America, and feature an assortment of wild animals, including chimpanzees, elephants, wild pigs, foxes, bears, wolves, pigeons and ducks. These anthropologists challenge the narrow utilitarian view of wildlife pestilence by revealing the cultural character of many of our 'natural enemies'. Their reports from the 'front-line' expose one fact - human conflict with wildlife is often an expression of conflict between people.

"A book that just about everyone will find in some measure fascinating, disturbing, engaging, repulsive and funny... Buy it for a friend who worries about 'germs'." -- American Scientist

This is the first human-wildlife conflict (HWC) book to focus on the marine system, exploring the complexity of HWC in marine-based conservation through the 'Level of Conflict' model, a theoretical yet highly practical tool developed in the peace-building field.