Human wildlife conflict pattern analysis around Least explored Pakhro range of Jim Corbett National Park- A MaxEnt based case study

Abstract

Throughout history, human-wildlife conflicts have posed persistent challenges for wildlife conservation. With global population growth and extensive development, these conflicts have intensified, leading to casualties among both humans and wildlife. This pioneering study focuses on human-wildlife conflicts in villages near the less explored Pakhro range of Jim Corbett National Park, situated in the Himalayan foothills of India. Through extensive ground surveys, the study identifies conflict hotspots and assesses their severity, revealing the significant impact on local populations. It is revealed through this study a significant amount of population permanently migrated from the villages like Godi and Amsaur in past few years. Animal attacks and wildlife sightings are common occurrence in the region. In addition to this, the study also identifies conflict with herbivores like Elephants and Deers in the region which results in crop damage. To discover the factors driving these conflicts, a thorough MaxEnt-based analysis was conducted, integrating anthropogenic, topographic, and environmental variables based on literature and expert opinions with 86 location points where wildlife conflicts were reported. The model elucidates the impact of these factors on conflict occurrence in the region. It is clearly indicated from the results that parameters like LULC, proximity from waterbodies, slope, aspect, elevation play a key role in assessment of such conflict zones. The results highlight the significance of adopting a holistic approach, whereby considering multiple predictor variables enhances our ability to comprehensively understand and forecast human-animal conflict dynamics.