Patterns and perceptions of wildlife crop raiding in and around Kerinci Seblat National Park, Sumatra

Abstract

Crop raiding can reduce farmers' tolerance towards wildlife. Despite higher human population densities in rural areas, and more rapid conversion of forest to farmland, much less is known about crop raiding in Asia than in Africa. Over 14 months, we identified perceived and actual crop pests, and their patterns of crop raiding from farmland in and around Kerinci Seblat National Park, Sumatra. Farmers named either the wild boar Sus scrofa (80%) or the pig-tailed macaque Macaca nemestrina (20%) as the two most destructive crop pests. From 5125 crop raids by 11 species of mammal, most raids were indeed made by the wild boar (56%) and the pig-tailed macaque (19%). For all species combined, temporal crop raiding peaks were positively correlated with periods of high rainfall. Spatially, most crop raids occurred nearest to the forest edge and the local guarding strategies used were ineffective. However, raids by wild boars were more extensive than raids by pig-tailed macaques, which caused much greater crop damage (73%) than wild boars (26%), contrary to farmers' perceptions. Our research suggests that alternative mitigation strategies need to be trialed over dry and rainy seasons to identify the most effective strategies and that guarding effort should be increased during the rainy seasons and tailored towards specific crop raiding species based on their unique spatial patterns.

Determinants of Attitudes and Perceptions on Resource Use and Management of Marsabit National Reserve, Kenya

“…They accept responsibility to manage small-bodied problem animals. These results concurred with those of previous studies done in Tsavo and Nairobi national parks by Akama et al (1995) and Sumatra by Linkie et al (2007). They both agreed that perceptions of local communities living adjacent to the protected area are affected by severity of damage.…”

Crop-raiding macaques: predictions, patterns and perceptions from Langtang National Park, Nepal

“…The losses incurred by farmers may make communities living close to protected areas antagonistic and intolerant towards wildlife, which can undermine and impede conservation strategies (Nyhus et al 2000). Because farmers in developing countries often have limited access to cash and are rarely compensated for their losses, the individual economic losses suffered from crop-raiding can be relatively high (Nyhus et al 2005, Linkie et al 2007, Warren et al 2007). Furthermore, farmers' inability to mitigate crop-raiding adequately and the absence of compensation schemes may lead to retaliatory killing of problem species (Jackson & Wangchuk 2001, Nyhus et al 2005.…”

“…Crop-raiding by wild animals is increasingly known to be a source of conflict between the animals and humans, perhaps especially so along the boundaries of protected areas (Strum 1994, NaughtonTreves 1998, Sekhar 1998, Gillingham & Lee 2003, Linkie et al 2007, Riley 2007. The losses incurred by farmers may make communities living close to protected areas antagonistic and intolerant towards wildlife, which can undermine and impede conservation strategies (Nyhus et al 2000).…”

Pastoralist-predator interaction at the roof of the world: Conflict dynamics and implications for conservation

“…Better-managed protected areas are considered safe havens for carnivores, but have caused an increase in human-carnivore conflict in buffer zones (Tsering et al 2006). Livestock herding is generally within the ambit of poor nomads in south and central Asia (Naughton- Treves 1998, Kreutzmann 2003, Pratt et al 2004, Linkie et al 2007, Mock et al 2007. It is the only means of livelihood for transhumance families.…”