LIVING ON THE EDGE: HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT AND AGRICULTURE DESTRUCTION IN KERALA: A CASE STUDY ON PANAMARAM PANCHAYATH, WAYANAD DISTRICT

Wayanad district in Kerala is basically an agrarian economy, but recently farmers in Wayanad facing many problems including crop destruction by wild animal attacks. Thisimpaires agriculture production, lowers income, has negative effects on education, health, and development in the long run.Human-wildlife strife may be a contentious issue within Kerala Western Ghats, as well as in other regions of India. This paper attempts to analyse the crop destruction due to human-wildlife conflict in agriculture sector and also to assess human casualties, various techniques adopted by farmers and government institutions to prevent wild animal attacks in PanamaramPanchayath of Wayanad district.