TY - JOUR

T1 - Asiatic Black Bear–Human Conflict

T2 - A Case Study from Guthichaur Rural Municipality, Jumla, Nepal

AU - Rawal, Akshay Kumar

AU - Timilsina, Sachin

AU - Gautam, Subash

AU - Lamichhane, Saurav

AU - Adhikari, Hari

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2024 by the authors.

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Our study assessed patterns of Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus)–human conflicts within the Guthichaur rural municipality, Jumla, Nepal. Through semi-structured interviews with villagers, focus group discussions (FGDs), and key informant interviews (KIIs), we gathered black bear–human conflict information from 2009 to 2019. We identified three primary types of black bear–human interactions: crop damage, livestock depredation, and human injuries. Of these, crop damage (77.03%) emerged as the most prevalent issue. Notably, peak occurrences were observed during autumn (September–October) typically between 9 PM and 3 AM. Livestock depredations were more frequent during nighttime in April–August, with cows/ox (70.12%) being the most depredated animal. Our data also revealed five recorded cases of black bear attacks on humans, which transpired from September to October, primarily in farmland areas in varying years. Despite a prevailing negative perception of bears, a notable level of support exists for their conservation efforts among local communities. Furthermore, these conflicts could be mitigated by reinforcing indigenous crop protection methods and implementing targeted mitigation strategies, as observed in other regions with successful black bear–human interaction management.

AB - Our study assessed patterns of Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus)–human conflicts within the Guthichaur rural municipality, Jumla, Nepal. Through semi-structured interviews with villagers, focus group discussions (FGDs), and key informant interviews (KIIs), we gathered black bear–human conflict information from 2009 to 2019. We identified three primary types of black bear–human interactions: crop damage, livestock depredation, and human injuries. Of these, crop damage (77.03%) emerged as the most prevalent issue. Notably, peak occurrences were observed during autumn (September–October) typically between 9 PM and 3 AM. Livestock depredations were more frequent during nighttime in April–August, with cows/ox (70.12%) being the most depredated animal. Our data also revealed five recorded cases of black bear attacks on humans, which transpired from September to October, primarily in farmland areas in varying years. Despite a prevailing negative perception of bears, a notable level of support exists for their conservation efforts among local communities. Furthermore, these conflicts could be mitigated by reinforcing indigenous crop protection methods and implementing targeted mitigation strategies, as observed in other regions with successful black bear–human interaction management.

KW - compensation

KW - depredation

KW - habitat

KW - Himalayan black bear

KW - human–black bear conflict

U2 - 10.3390/ani14081206

DO - 10.3390/ani14081206

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 38672357

AN - SCOPUS:85191311461

VL - 14

JO - Animals

JF - Animals

SN - 2076-2615

IS - 8

M1 - 1206

ER -