16 - Socio-ecological factors shaping local support for wildlife: crop-raiding by elephants and other wildlife in Africa

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Human–wildlife conflict is often viewed as a local problem involving the misbehaviour of people or animals (e.g. elephants transgress park boundaries to raid neighbouring crops, or farmers plant crops in wildlife habitat). Framing the issue this way tends to promote technical solutions like fencing and buffer crops; useful but often inadequate measures for promoting the long-term coexistence of people and wildlife (Breitenmoser et al., Chapter 4; Osborn and Hill, Chapter 5). Geographers, anthropologists and other social scientists can illuminate the deeper causes of conflict and help guide long-term management solutions in several ways. First, social scientists can reveal the driving forces of land use change that impel people to plant crops or raise livestock in high-risk areas. Additionally, they can also assess the severity of the conflict by documenting the spatial and social distribution of wildlife damage, and the varying capacity of individuals to cope with such losses. Finally and more broadly, they can illuminate the social factors that intensify human–wildlife conflict or favour coexistence (Knight 2001).

In this chapter, we analyse the socio-ecological factors that shape rural African citizens' tolerance of crop loss to wildlife, particularly elephants (Loxodonta africana). Elephants are the focus of much human–wildlife conflict research in Africa. They deserve special consideration as an Appendix I CITES species and a tourist, ‘flagship’ species. We first survey 26 reports from 15 African countries to identify factors that intensify human–wildlife conflict, and to compare losses between elephants and other ‘pests’ at different scales.