Crop Raiding and Livestock Predation at Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan India

This article reports the results of multi-methods research at an Indian wildlife sanctuary between 1998 and 2006 to determine (a) household characteristics that influence vulnerability to crop raiding and livestock predation, (b) wildlife species most sensitive to these characteristics, and (c) conservation outcomes for species adapted to raiding and predation. The results suggest that characteristics of wild species interact with economic factors to determine nuisance conditions. Households more proximate to the forest and with larger landholdings are more vulnerable to crop raiding while livestock loss is largely a result of illegal forest grazing. Species that have succeeded under the current conservation regime are the most frequent raiders and predators while declining species cannot and do not avail themselves of domesticated resources. These results suggest considering inter-specific park boundary encounters as part of a set of mutual ecological subsidies and flows rather than solely as conflicts.