Human-wildlife conflict: terms & definitions

Culverts

Culverts are human-made structures that channel water past obstacles or to subterranean waterways. Culverts can be an important tool in solving human-wildlife conflict between people and beavers. The natural behaviour beavers exhibit of building dams can cause floods that damage property or cause harm to people in other ways. To prevent this, beavers are sometimes killed or trapped. However, beavers are crucial to their ecosystems, as their dams create habitats and water sources for many other species. Instead of harming beavers, we can build culverts around their dams that prevent flooding by redirecting water flow.

If not properly designed, culverts can result in injury or the separation of young animals, such as elephants, from their mothers if they fall in and are not able to get out.

Defensive behaviour

Defensive behaviour refers to the responses exhibited by an animal in response to feeling threatened by a human or another animal. An animal's response to a threat may involve playing dead or running away, but it may also trigger aggressive behaviour. Some animals may become aggressive if they feel threatened by humans, which is why you should never try to approach a wild animal with the intent of touching, harming, feeding it, or taking a close-up photo. Defensive behaviour from the largest of grizzly bears and the smallest of bees can be dangerous for humans.

Hippos are particularly territorial animals known for aggressive defensive behaviours. When humans get too near to hippos or their habitats, confrontations can often turn violent for both parties.

Deterrence devices

In the context of human-wildlife conflicts, deterrence devices (also called deterrents) are objects that discourage or inhibit wild animals from entering human spaces. Common deterrents are acoustic (making sounds), lighting, or chemical-based.

Traditional deterrents such as beating drums, whistling, string and tins alarm systems, throwing stones, burning fires, and scarecrows are widely used by rural communities to mitigate human-wildlife conflict.

Other deterrence measures include barriers-such as beehive fences, which deter elephants from entering human spaces, and modern tech-based alarm and chemical systems.

Encroachment

Encroachment refers to the process where human activities, such as agriculture and infrastructure development, invade and modify natural habitats, including wildlife corridors and dispersal areas, leading to a reduction in the space available for wildlife.

As a result, wild animals are pushed into closer proximity with human populations, causing negative interactions that can affect both species.

To prevent encroachment, participatory land-use planning is key. This is a rights-based approach that actively involves local land users and other stakeholders, including government, in zoning land areas for specified uses such as settlements, crops, wildlife, and grazing.

The creation of rules governing access to land and resources-and having accountable local governance that enforces these regulations and enables collective action-are equally important.