Issues like deforestation and urbanisation have brought the human population and the wildlife at an unprecedented proximity. To highlight the risks posed by the crisis, a joint report states that the problem is as much a development and humanitarian issue as it is a conservation concern. It also states that the human-wildlife conflict is the single biggest threat to some of the most vulnerable animals in the world.

The report titled, ‘A future for all – the need for human-wildlife coexistence’ published jointly by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) today, on July 8, states that when struggles arise from people and animals coming into contact, it often leads to people killing animals in self-defence, or as preemptive or retaliatory killings, which can drive certain species to extinction.

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The report also mentions that while it’s not possible to completely eradicate human-wildlife conflict, there are approaches that involve the full participation of local communities that can help reduce it and lead to coexistence between humans and wildlife. 

It also highlights that globally, conflict-related killing affects more than 75 per cent of the world’s wild cat species, as well as many other terrestrial and marine carnivore species such as polar bears and Mediterranean monk seals, and large herbivores such as elephants.

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“Wildlife faces numerous threats, among them, effects of climate change, loss of habitat from deforestation, illegal wildlife trade, infrastructure and now conflict with humans, factors that have led to a significant decline of wildlife species and to the possible extinction of species whose numbers were really low already,” the report states.

The report by WWF and UNEP featured contributions from 155 experts from 40 organisations based in 27 countries.

“Human-wildlife conflict has traditionally been addressed through short-term mitigation and incident preparedness measures, such as the deployment of deterrents or lethal control methods for problem animals. These approaches only tackle the symptoms, but not the underlying causes,” Susan Gardner, Director, Ecosystems Division, UNEP has been quoted as saying in the report.

“As an elephant ecologist once put it, treating human-wildlife conflict with deterrents is akin to treating brain tumours only with Aspirin,” she added.

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For people who have never witnessed human-wildlife conflict, the report suggests that they can still play their part in tackling the problem by looking out for products certified by organisations like the Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network and the Rainforest Alliance. 

“Reducing human-wildlife conflict can lead to opportunities and benefits not only for biodiversity and impacted communities, but for society, sustainable development, production, and the global economy at large,” the report stated.