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Addressing human-tiger conflict using socio-ecological information on tolerance and risk

Struebig, Matthew J., Linkie, Matthew, Deere, Nicolas J., Martyr, Deborah J., Milliyanawati, Betty, Faulkner, Sally C., Le Comber, Steven C., Mangunjaya, Fachruddin M., Leader-Williams, Nigel, McKay, Jeanne E., and others. (2018) Addressing human-tiger conflict using socio-ecological information on tolerance and risk. Nature Communications, 9 . ISSN 2041-1723. (doi:10.1038/s41467-018-05983-y) (KAR id:68456)

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05983-y

Abstract

Tigers are critically endangered due to deforestation and persecution. Yet in places, Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae) continue to coexist with people, offering insights for managing wildlife elsewhere. Here, we couple spatial models of encounter risk with information on tolerance from 2,386 Sumatrans to reveal drivers of human-tiger conflict. Risk of encountering tigers was greater around populated villages that neighbored forest or rivers connecting tiger habitat; geographic profiles refined these predictions to three core areas. People’s tolerance for tigers was related to underlying attitudes, emotions, norms and spiritual beliefs. Combining this information into socio-ecological models yielded predictions of tolerance that were 32 times better than models based on social predictors alone. Pre-emptive intervention based on these socio-ecological predictions could have averted up to 51% of attacks on livestock and people, saving 15 tigers from the wild. Our work provides further evidence of the benefits of interdisciplinary research on conservation conflicts.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1038/s41467-018-05983-y
Projects: Tolerating tigers: do local beliefs offset humna-wildlife conflict?
Uncontrolled keywords: human-wildlife conflict, hunting, endangered species, geographic profiling, conservation decision making, socio-ecological systems, mitigation
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences
H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Q Science > QH Natural history > QH541 Ecology
Q Science > QH Natural history > QH75 Conservation (Biology)
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation > DICE (Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology)
Funders: Leverhulme Trust (https://ror.org/012mzw131)
Depositing User: Matthew Struebig
Date Deposited: 29 Aug 2018 08:36 UTC
Last Modified: 04 Mar 2024 15:16 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/68456 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Struebig, Matthew J..

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2058-8502
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Linkie, Matthew.

Creator's ORCID:
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Deere, Nicolas J..

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1299-2126
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

McKay, Jeanne E..

Creator's ORCID:
CReDIT Contributor Roles:
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