Status of human-wildlife conflict in Dibru-Saikhowa National Park of Assam, India

Habitat shrinkage, along with the loss of quality habitat, results in a higher human-wildlife conflict throughout the world. The Dibru-Saikhowa National Park of Assam once consisted of dense semi-evergreen forests, crane brakes, moist deciduous forests, and grasslands, now facing severe anthropogenic pressure that resulted in higher human-wildlife conflict. The study conducted in four suba (sub-village) of Laika and Dodhia villages found that wild buffalo was responsible for the highest degree of conflict (39.8%), followed by elephant 35% and wild boar 23.7% during 2016-17. The Pomuwa suba encountered the highest degree (94.6%) of human-wildlife buffalo conflict, followed by Tengabari suba 68.4%, Pasidiya 65.2%, and Rikbi 10.4%, which was found statistically significant between different subas (χ2=64.084, p≤0.05). A similar trend was also found in the case of human-elephant conflict, which was also found significant between different subas (χ2=83.829, p≤0.05). Although the extent of conflict was comparatively less, the Tengabari suba encountered the highest human-wild boar conflict and Rikbi suba human-leopard conflicts, which were also found to be statistically significant. However, crop depredation forms the major concern of human-wildlife conflict as compared to other kinds of conflict. The overall extent of conflict indicates that the Pomuwa suba is the highest sufferer as compared with other subas. A landscape-level policy and its proper execution along with timely disbursement of ex-gratia may help in mitigating human-wildlife conflict.