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Causes, Consequences and Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Conflicts Caused by Tiger Straying Incidents in Sundarban, India

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Abstract

An increasing number of tigers are leaving natural mangrove habitats and straying into the surrounding villages in the Indian Sundarban. This creates a serious hazard for humans, livestock and tigers. Household surveys in villages adjacent to the mangroves found 237 incidents of tigers straying during 1995–2010. An average of 14 tigers strays into villages per year. Consequences of tigers straying include, villagers killed (N = 7) or injured (N = 73), tiger predation on livestock (N = 242), and villagers killing tigers (N = 12). Most (68 %) of tigers leaving the mangroves were male. Of female tigers, most (65 %) had litters and were accompanied by their cubs. Confusing riverside plantations with jungles or confusing paddy fields with wild grasses (31.12 % combined) and predation of domestic livestock (26.96 %) are two main reasons for tigers straying. Tigers may also prefer domestic livestock over wild boar and deer as hunting livestock is easier than hunting natural prey in mangroves. Benefit, cost ratios for human–tiger conflicts were calculated at 0.81–0.92: 1. Appropriate compensation and a strategy of prey population increase might provide solutions to existing problems.

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Acknowledgments

I am grateful to University Grants Commission (UGC), Govt. of India for providing grants for carrying out field work in Sundarban. Thanks are also due to Professor Sunando Bandyopadhyay, Department of geography, University of Calcutta and Carl D. Mitchell, retired wildlife biologist, USA for their continuous inspirations and valuable suggestions for improving the paper.

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Correspondence to Chandan Surabhi Das.

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Das, C.S. Causes, Consequences and Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Conflicts Caused by Tiger Straying Incidents in Sundarban, India. Proc Zool Soc 68, 120–130 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12595-014-0105-8

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