Supplemental food from anthropogenic sources is a source of conflict with humans for many wildlife species. Food-seeking behaviours by black bears Ursus americanus and brown bears Ursus arctos can lead to property damage, human injury and mortality of the offending bears. Such conflicts are a well-known conservation management issue wherever people live in bear habitats. In contrast, the use of anthropogenic foods by the polar bear Ursus maritimus is less common historically but is a growing conservation and management issue across the Arctic. Here we present six case studies that illustrate how negative food-related interactions between humans and polar bears can become either chronic or ephemeral and unpredictable. Our examination suggests that attractants are an increasing problem, exacerbated by climate change-driven sea-ice losses that cause increased use of terrestrial habitats by bears. Growing human populations and increased human visitation increase the likelihood of human–polar bear conflict. Efforts to reduce food conditioning in polar bears include attractant management, proactive planning and adequate resources for northern communities to reduce conflicts and improve human safety. Permanent removal of unsecured sources of nutrition, to reduce food conditioning, should begin immediately at the local level as this will help to reduce polar bear mortality.

Wild carnivores are threatened by human activities, particularly by lethal responses to livestock predation. As natural prey populations decline, predation of livestock and consumption of discarded livestock ‘waste’ (carcasses and body parts) should increase. We investigated whether parameters linked to the production of livestock waste affected the likelihood of livestock predation. We interviewed 160 households near Ruaha National Park in Tanzania to obtain information on households, livestock ownership, predation and parameters linked to livestock waste production. Our analysis identified parameters that affected the likelihood of predation on cattle, sheep and goats. When these parameters were controlled for, we found an increased likelihood of cattle predation as waste from diseased and slaughtered cattle increased. Sheep predation was more likely and cattle predation was less likely as sheep deaths from starvation increased. Goat predation was more likely in medium-sized than smaller or larger villages, suggesting a trade-off to predators between the increasing benefit of more livestock waste and the costs of higher human disturbance and diminishing natural prey abundance as village size category increased. Our findings suggest that improved disposal of livestock waste from slaughtered cattle and measures to decrease cattle deaths from disease should reduce predation of highly prized cattle.

The aim of this study was to determine the extent to which mongooses Herpestes javanicus in the Caribbean National Forest use areas of high human use, and to compare space use patterns in these areas to those in areas of low human use. It was expected that the abundance of anthropogenic food in areas of high human use would lead to (1) higher population densities; (2) smaller home ranges; (3) more extensive range overlap and reduced territorial behaviour, than areas of low use. During the dry season, 14 mongooses were radio-collared and tracked in each of two areas: an area of high human use and an area of low human use. Six of these mongooses, one in an area of low human use and five in an area of high human use, were also tracked during the wet season. In both seasons, mongooses in the area of high human use used picnic areas more than expected based on availability. In the dry season, mongooses in the area of high human use had smaller home ranges than those in the area of low human use. Ranges overlapped extensively in both areas, and slightly more so in the area of low human use. However, individuals avoided each other spatially within the shared area of their ranges, and core home ranges overlapped little. In the wet (breeding) season, home-range size and overlap increased more for males than for females. Such differences in behaviour and population dynamics in these two areas have implications for rabies transmission rates and management throughout the forest.