Human-Wildlife Conflicts in Urban Areas

It is natural to think that these conflicts only occur in rural areas and fringe communities around natural forests. Yes, HWC are most common in those areas. But as the urban centres around the world have increased, many animals have adapted themselves to live in urban areas as well. Again, we find an overlap of […]

Can speeding cause more than just accidents? YES!

Whenever we think of speeding, the first thing that usually comes to our mind is traffic accident. This is not surprising because the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) once reported speeding as the contributing factor to 50% of road accidents in Nigeria. The country is ranked as the second in the world in terms of […] […]

Monkey tails: The strangest morning alarm ever!

The monkeys probably read my previous post about them, because yesterday morning, I got a visit! It was early morning, and I was having a bit of a lie in. Suddenly, I hear my wardrobe creak open. My roommate usually walks around the room, but he has never opened my wardrobe, I wondered half asleep. […]

Monkey tails

Living in the Forest Research Institute is an amazing experience. Having lived in Delhi for the last 5 years (and Bangalore and Moscow before that), I realized what fresh air smells like, what it feels like to breathe it regularly. It is amazing waking up to the beautiful songs of birds. In fact, there is […]

African Elephants: Fighting to stay alive

African elephants are majestic creatures. They are the largest land mammals in the world. They inhabit almost the entire continent of Africa, and occur is two major subspecies: the larger and more widely known Savannah (or bush) elephants and the slightly smaller Forest elephants.

Human-wildlife conflict: Poaching

It’s one thing to kill animals when they are affecting the way you live. It can even be justified in some cases. Go to a man who’s son has been eaten by a leopard, and he’ll say, “Yes, I want to kill that leopard!” But, killing animals to enhance the way you live? That is inhumane. Most […]

How does human-wildlife conflict affect ecosystems?-A look at Asian elephants

Human-wildlife conflicts (HWC), apart from affecting the humans and/or animal in question, also has a cascading effect in the ecosystem. The logic is quite simple; as an animal population reduces in number, every other organism affected by the presence of this animal population will be affected by its absence. Confused? Read on. Northeastern India is […]

Habitat encroachment, loss and fragmentation

How would you feel if a group of unknown hooligans barged into your house and took up the entire living room to stay and work from? Not good, I’m thinking. But let’s say you have no option. You let them be and make do with living in your bedroom and using the bathroom and kitchen. […]

Human-wildlife conflicts: Retaliation killings

Humans also have a toleration level in built within us. The difference is that while all other organisms have a tolerance only with respect to their environmental stress, humans are social animals and have multiple levels of tolerances. Mental tolerance is what is severely tested during extended periods of HWC. With extreme economic losses and health […]

Human-Wildlife conflicts: Hidden costs

While the economic losses due to HWC are considerable, it’s not all that we are losing. Several other losses occur due to these conflicts that we cannot put a monetary value to. The biggest of these is the loss of biodiversity. Humans also bear some of these hidden costs; psychological losses due to loss of […]