Assessment of Socio-economic Impact of Human-wildlife Conflict on Agriculture: A Case of Smallholder and Subsistence Farmers in Eastern Bhutan

Abstract

Human-wildlife conflicts are a great concern in where ecosystem services are shared between humans and wildlife animals. This paper examines the socio-economic impacts of human-wildlife conflicts. A descriptive survey design was employed in this study. Primary data were collected by using a simple random sample from 120 households. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including frequency and percentages. The study results showed that there is a substantial social and economic impact on the smallholder and marginal farmers through the loss of crops due to wild animals. The majority of farmers (23%) had incurred annual household economic loss ranging from US$49-US$59 per household.