Human-Elephant Conflicts in and Around Reserve Areas. A case of Babile Elephant Sanctuary of East Africa.

Abstract

Human-animal conflict in and along the reserve areas is a common problem throughout the globe, however it’s more crucial in the semiarid environs of tropics. Babile elephant Sanctuary (BES) the only elephant Sanctuary of the Horn of Africa is seriously suffering with this problem. Like other African sanctuaries, here too the problems is looming up human-natural resource-climate and animals, and demands to explore the human interventions in this precarious scenario. The adjoining areas are inhabited by people with very poor economic and educational status. Human population is growing fast due to high natural growth and migration. Change in economic activity-from pastorals to agro pastorals and to sedentary agriculture, demands more land for cultivation and leads to encroachment into Sanctuary. Elephants were found most damaging in volume and variety of distractions, bear more disgust from natives and unfortunately the conflict is growing.  Conflicts are utmost during dry winters when resource crunch is at its zenith. The satellite imageries depict a drastic decrease in natural resources- wood lands, bush lands and grass lands and increase in degraded lands, rock outcrops, cultivated lands and settlements. Elephant’s population reported continuously declining since 1932 except last decade, struggling to save and survive in their continuously shrinking habitat. The problems and situations are similar as of other such areas and the outcome could be equally useful for such other African or Tropical Sanctuaries and National Parks