Elephants in the village: Causes and consequences of property damage in Asia and Africa

Conservation Science and Practice

Bibhuti P. Lahkar¹  Vincent R. Nyirenda²  Eva M. Gross³  Naresh Subedi⁴  Oliver Jakoby⁵  Eva Klebelsberg⁶ 

[1] Awely, Wildlife and People Orléans France;Department of Zoology and Aquatic Sciences School of Natural Resources, Copperbelt University Kitwe Zambia;Faculty of Biological Sciences Goethe University Frankfurt Frankfurt Germany;National Trust for Nature Conservation Lalitpur Nepal;RIFCON GmbH Hirschberg Germany;Wildlife Biologist (Freelance) Stuttgart Germany;

关键词: attractive crops;    conflict mitigation;    elephant damage;    elephant‐safe stores;    human–elephant conflict;    land‐use planning;   

DOI  :  10.1111/csp2.343

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract In recent years, reports of elephants causing damage in rural villages by destroying houses and foraging on stored food have been increasing, but little is known about the determinants and magnitude of this damage. In this study, we have examined the extent of property damage by elephants (Loxodonta africana and Elephas maximus), in one African and two Asian study areas over a six‐year period. A total of 1,172 damaged constructions were observed on site, involving detailed damage assessment by trained enumerators and standardized interviews with witnesses. Depending on the study area, between 67.1 and 86.4% of damage events were attributed to single, individual elephants or pairs of males. The majority of properties were damaged in search for food (62.5–76.7% respectively). Property damage caused higher mean losses than crop damage on farmland in all study areas. Results suggest that property damage by elephants has been largely underestimated and needs to form a focus in future human–elephant conflict research. We suggest a need to reduce the attractiveness of villages by storing food in locked and safe places, away from sleeping areas and to foster the development of elephant safe stores, appropriate to the particular cultural background of the target area.

【 授权许可】

Unknown