Livestock depredations by leopards in Pir Lasura National Park, Pakistan: characteristics, control and costs

Abstract

Conservation of large carnivores in protected areas with high human use or habitation is challenging due to ecological, political and socioeconomic factors. Understanding underlying patterns of human-carnivore interactions is vital for their conservation. We investigated patterns and costs of livestock depredations by common leopards Panthera pardus in and near Pir Lasura National Park, Pakistan, using standardized questionnaires to collect data from 133 respondents during 2014-2015. Respondents lost 209 animals to leopard attacks, primarily goats (78.5%), followed by dogs (11%). Most leopard depredations of livestock occurred during the day, with almost 60% occurring during 9:00-11:00 h and 14:00-16:00 h. Greatest numbers of livestock killed was during May-July (60.9%) followed by December (9%). Most attacks occurred when livestock were not guarded (48.9%) and fewest when guarded by humans and dogs (2.3%). Most livestock depredations occurred in larger herds of ≥ 20 animals (58%). Respondent's perceptions of leopards were negative, with most (79.7%) stating their unwillingness to conserve leopards. Eight leopards were reportedly killed in retaliation to livestock. Livestock depredations by leopards represented almost 9% of the annual income of respondents. Our study provides several insights to mitigate human leopard conflict including use of humans and dogs to guard livestock during times of peak vulnerability (e.g. late morning and during summer, May-July). Further, improved corrals could reduce access to livestock by leopards and local communities should be aware of more effective corral designs. Reducing livestock depredations and corresponding economic losses could improve perceptions of local communities and promote tolerance towards leopards, reducing retaliatory killing and facilitating coexistence.

Interference competition driven by co‐occurrence with tigers Panthera tigris may increase livestock predation by leopards Panthera pardus: a first step meta‐analysis

“…As for human guarding, shepherds have deterred leopards for a long time (e.g. Sidhu et al 2017, Naha et al 2020, Akrim et al 2021) and they are effective in reducing the number of attacks by carnivorans (Soofi et al 2022b). In spite of these considerations, the number of shepherds is declining globally and, therefore, incentives from governments should be considered (Soofi et al 2022b).…”

Livestock Depredation by Large Carnivores and Human–Wildlife Conflict in Two Districts of Balochistan Province, Pakistan

“…A combination of qualitative methods, specifically key informant interviews, and quantitative methods, using structured interviews with a detailed questionnaire, were employed to collect data from the field, as has been implemented in previous studies [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. Structured interviews were conducted with 311 respondents from 40 villages with documented livestock depredation incidents and a high concentration of herding activity.…”

“…Livestock depredation by large mammalian predators inflicts significant economic losses on impoverished pastoral communities across Pakistan, jeopardizing village-level food security [21]. Consequently, predation on livestock remains a primary driver of human-carnivore conflict and a challenge for wildlife conservation efforts [22].…”

Human-Wildlife Conflict in Save Valley Conservancy: Residents’ Attitude Toward Wildlife Conservation

“…Communities near protected areas (PAs) suffer from crop-raiding and livestock predation, which is often the biggest cause of conflict in Africa [ 7 ]. People residing inside PAs are even more exposed and vulnerable to problem-causing wild animal species [ 9 , 10 ]. In Ethiopia, Tamrat et al [ 11 ] concluded that livestock predation is intense in and around a protected sanctuary.…”