IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jsecdv/v25y2023i2d10.1007_s40847-022-00230-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Agricultural loss due to wildlife: a case study on elephant depredation in a protected area of South India

Author

Listed:
  • Meenakshi Negi

    (Centre for Ecological Economics and Natural Resources (CEENR), Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC))

  • Mrinalini Goswami

    (Centre for Ecological Economics and Natural Resources (CEENR), Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC))

  • Sunil Nautiyal

    (Centre for Ecological Economics and Natural Resources (CEENR), Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC)
    G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment)

Abstract

Crop raiding by wildlife is an important form of human–wildlife conflict and has been reported from several protected areas of India. With the growing concerns of forest fragmentation, habitat destruction and expansion of agriculture, the extent of this problem is also getting amplified. The current research is a case study of this issue in Malai Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary (MM Hills) of Western Ghats in South India, with a special emphasis on elephant depredation. The objective of the study is to understand the types of human–wildlife conflict in selected villages. The study also attempted to assess the direct economic loss due to elephant depredation of crops. Primary data have been collected through household questionnaire survey and focus group discussions in two affected villages (Pacchedoddi located inside MM Hills and Kanchalli located on the fringes of MM Hills). Discussions were also undertaken with the staff of the forest administration. It was revealed that apart from elephants, different types of crops were damaged by boars, rodents and squirrels. Crop raiding by elephants had increased; mainly due to the construction of a dam in MM Hills that acted as a source of water and attracted elephants. Additionally, the availability of water also enabled the villagers to cultivate economically profitable crops, which were also preferred by elephants as they are more palatable leading to increase in elephant raids. The intensity of such raiding was more in Pacchedoddi than Kanchalli. The control measures applied were not fully effective. As a whole, it was found that agriculture was the main reason of human–elephant conflicts in MM Hills and crop loss severely affected the rural people of MM Hills. This formidable conservation issue in the area represents an important ecosystem disservice. It is suggested that this problem should be addressed with a synchronized approach for both conservation and agricultural livelihood with proper compensation schemes and alternate crop choices through government initiatives.

Suggested Citation

  • Meenakshi Negi & Mrinalini Goswami & Sunil Nautiyal, 2023. "Agricultural loss due to wildlife: a case study on elephant depredation in a protected area of South India," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 25(2), pages 350-364, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jsecdv:v:25:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s40847-022-00230-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s40847-022-00230-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40847-022-00230-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40847-022-00230-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vincent R. Nyirenda & Bimo A. Nkhata & Oscar Tembo & Susan Siamundele, 2018. "Elephant Crop Damage: Subsistence Farmers’ Social Vulnerability, Livelihood Sustainability and Elephant Conservation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-19, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yuchen Du & Junfeng Chen & Yi Xie, 2023. "The Impacts of the Asian Elephants Damage on Farmer’s Livelihood Strategies in Pu’er and Xishuangbanna in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-14, March.
    2. Eri Kato & Yuki Yano & Yasuo Ohe, 2019. "Investigating Gaps in Perception of Wildlife between Urban and Rural Inhabitants: Empirical Evidence from Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-13, August.
    3. Mengyuan Zhao & Jia Chen & Beimeng Liu & Yi Xie, 2025. "Impact of Human–Elephant Conflict Risk Perception on Farmers’ Land Use Efficiency in Yunnan, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-27, April.
    4. Xiaolan Wang & Li Peng & Dingde Xu & Xuxi Wang, 2019. "Sensitivity of Rural Households’ Livelihood Strategies to Livelihood Capital in Poor Mountainous Areas: An Empirical Analysis in the Upper Reaches of the Min River, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-16, April.
    5. Zhongcheng Yan & Feng Wei & Xin Deng & Chuan Li & Qiang He & Yanbin Qi, 2022. "Will the Experience of Human–Wildlife Conflict Affect Farmers’ Cultivated Land Use Behaviour? Evidence from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-21, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jsecdv:v:25:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s40847-022-00230-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.