How Does Wildlife Damage Change Farmers’ Production Behavior? A Case Study of China’s Giant Panda Reserves

In this study, we examine the impact of damage caused by wildlife on farmers’ production behavior and analyze the livelihood options when they face the loss. Our research area comprises 51 villages surrounding 14 giant panda reserves in China. Based on a questionnaire survey of 787 households, a linear regression model was used to analyze the changes of farmers’ production behavior in 2018 due to wildlife damage. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) as the risk of wildlife damage increases, farmers have to abandon some of the heavily damaged lands, which are expected to produce very low profits; (2) although the farmer’s labor and capital input per unit area of the remaining land increased, the total farming time decreased due to the reduction of the cultivated land area; (3) the labor time that farmers released was partially allocated to livestock raising. There is a large heterogeneity in the livelihood selection behavior of farmers. In view of this, this article suggests that in order to protect farmland resources and farmers’ livelihoods, the government should implement compensation or promote agricultural insurance so that farmers have a stable profit expectation for their farming activities.