Examining human-carnivore interactions using a socio-ecological framework: sympatric wild canids in India as a case study

Many carnivores inhabit human-dominated landscapes outside protected reserves. Spatially explicit assessments of carnivore distributions and livestock depredation patterns in human-use landscapes are crucial for minimising negative interactions and fostering coexistence between people and predators. India harbors 23% of the world’s carnivore species that share space with 1.3 billion people in ~2.3% of the global land area. We examined carnivore distributions and human-carnivore interactions in a multi-use forest landscape in central India. We focused on five sympatric carnivore species: Indian gray wolf Canis lupus pallipes, dhole Cuon alpinus, Indian jackal C. aureus indicus, Indian fox Vulpes bengalensis and striped hyena Hyaena hyaena. Carnivore occupancy ranged from 12% for dholes to 86% for jackals, mostly influenced by forests, open scrublands, and terrain ruggedness. Livestock/poultry depredation probability in the landscape ranged from 21% for dholes to >95% for jackals, influenced by land cover and livestock- or poultry-holding. The five species also showed high spatial overlap with free-ranging dogs, suggesting potential competitive interactions and disease-risks, with consequences for human health and safety. Our study provides insights on factors that facilitate and impede co-occurrence between people and predators. Spatial prioritisation of carnivore-rich areas and conflict-prone locations could facilitate human-carnivore coexistence in shared habitats. Our framework is ideally suited for making socio-ecological assessments of human-carnivore interactions in other multi-use landscapes and regions, worldwide.