This topic looks at the hows and whys of living with wildlife.
Wildlife provides people with food, money, shelter, warmth, medicine and inspiration – and yet living with wildlife is not always easy and for many African communities. Conflict between people and wildlife is a serious problem.
Human encroachment and clearance of land for settlements and agriculture not only results in loss of habitat for wildlife, but forces wild animals into close quarters with humans. Resultant loss of crops, livestock or human life is met with retaliatory or even pre-emptive killings of many animals. Whether it’s with elephants, big cats, primates or rodents, human-wildlife conflict is set to grow with the growth of the human population. Finding space for both people and wildlife to co-exist is the ultimate conservation challenge.
