Mitigating human-tiger conflict: An assessment of compensation payments and tiger removals in chitwan national park, Nepal

Abstract

Human-tiger conflict is one of the most critical issues in tiger conservation, requiring a focus on effective mitigation measures. We assessed the mitigation measures used between 2007 and 2014 in Chitwan National Park (CNP) and its buffer zone, which include: compensation payments made to human victims or their families, compensation for livestock loss through depredation, and the removal of tigers involved in conflicts. The data collected from the offices of CNP and the Buffer Zone Management Committee were triangulated during questionnaire surveys (n=83) and key informant interviews (n=13). A total compensation of US$ 93,618 ($11,702.3 per year) was paid for tiger attacks during the eight-year period. Of this, the majority (65%) was in payment for human killings, followed by payment for livestock depredations (29.3%) and for human injuries (5.7%). The payments on average covered 80.7% of medical expenses of injured persons, and 61.7% of the monetary value of killed livestock. Goats had the highest proportion of payments (43.5%) for livestock. A linear model suggested there was an increasing trend in total annual payments from $2,000 in 2007 to $21,536 in 2014, a jump of 976%. A total of 15 tigers were removed from the wild for conflict reasons: 11 by authorities, and four killed by local people in retaliation. Thirteen tigers were removed from the buffer zone alone. The majority of the removed tigers were adults (n=9) and healthy (n=9). Most (n=12) of the removed tigers were killed, or died after removal, indicating greater impacts of tiger-removal in CNP. We suggest that in order to encourage community engagement, compensation payments be paid quickly, an insurance scheme in the buffer zone be promoted, live-removed tigers be better managed, including radio-tracking of wild released individuals, and awareness programs be targeted at affected communities.