mutually supportive.Traditions of tolerance and coexistence do
not guarantee that people will refrain from
retaliating against wildlife that impose eco-
nomic, personal or social costs. Yet, certain
beliefs and practices facilitate a level of tol-
erance of conflict that would be absent with-
out those beliefs or with a different set of
beliefs that instill a sense of domination over
or separation from nature or irreverence for
wildlife. Such a difference in cultural per-
spective could be the deciding factor in
some specific situations, tipping the balance
as to whether or not a person decides to kill
a snow leopard, tiger or elephant, for exam-
ple. Does the individual kill the predator just
because it is out there? Or is the person
only driven to such an action because the
predator might kill a livestock animal? Or
rather does he or she refrain from retaliation
until one livestock animal has been killed?
Or until many livestock have been killed?
These shades of difference in action and
reaction define the level of human tolerance
for wildlife, a factor that can significantly
contribute to the survival of endangered
species in the course of the next century.References
Chatty, D. and M. Colchester (eds.), Conservation and Mobile
Indigenous Peoples, Berghahn Books, United Kingdom,
2002.
Igoe, J., “National Parks and Human Ecosystems”, in Chatty,
Dawn and Marcus Colchester (eds.), Conservation and
Mobile Indigenous Peoples, Berghahn Books, 77-95,
United Kingdom, 2002.
IUCN Inter-Commission Task Force on Indigenous Peoples,
Indigenous Peoples and Sustainability: Cases and Actions,
International Books, Utrecht, Netherlands, 1997.
Margolis, K., “Bears in the Greater Kitlope Ecosystem”, in
Schoonmaker, P. K., B. von Hagen, and E. C. Wolf (eds.),
The Rain Forests of Home: Profile of a North American
Bioregion, Island Press, 89-91, Washington, DC, 1997.Mayell, H., “Satellites Reveal How Rare Elephants Survive
Desert”, National Geographic News,September 27, 2002.
McNeely, J.A. and P. S. Wachtel, Soul of the Tiger,
Doubleday, New York, 1988.
Posey, D.A., “Introduction: Culture and Nature – The
Inextricable Link,” in Posey, D.A. (ed.), Cultural and
Spiritual Values of Biodiversity,United Nations
Environment Programme/Intermediate Technology
Publications, 1-18, London, 1999.
Quammen, David, Monster of God, W. W. Norton and
Company, New York and London, 2003.
Saberwal, V. K., J. P. Gibbs, R. Chellam, and A. J. T.
Johnsingh, “Lion-Human Conflict in the Gir Forest, India”,
Conservation Biology, 8(2): 501-507, 1994.
Venkataraman, A., “Incorporating Traditional Coexistence
Propensities into Management of Wildlife Habitats in
India”, Current Science, 79(11): 1531-1535, 2000.
Western, David, “Ecosystem Conservation and Rural
Development: The Case of Amboseli”, in Western, David
and R. Michael Wright (eds.) and Shirley C. Strum (assoc.
ed.), Natural Connections, Island Press, 15-52,
Washington, DC, 1994.
Western, David and R. Michael Wright, “The Background to
Community-Based Conservation”, in Western, David and R.
Michael Wright (eds.) and Shirley C. Strum (assoc. ed.),
Natural Connections, Island Press, 1-12, Washington, DC,
1994.
World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) World Parks
Congress V, “Recommendation 20, Preventing and
Mitigating Human-Wildlife Conflicts,” URL:
http://www.iucn.org/themes/wcpa/wpc2003/pdfs/out-
puts/recommendations/approved/english/html/r20.htmNotes(^1) IUCN, 1997.
(^2) McNeely and Wachtel, 1988.
(^3) Chatty and Colchester, 2002; see also, McNeely and
Wachtel, 1988; Western and Wright, 1994.
(^4) Posey, 1999.
(^5) McNeely and Wachtel, 1988.
(^6) Western and Wright, 1994.
(^7) McNeely and Wachtel, 1998.
(^8) McNeely and Wachtel, 1998.
(^9) Venkataraman, 2000.
(^10) McNeely and Wachtel, 1988.
(^11) McNeely and Wachtel, 1988.
(^12) IUCN, 1997.
(^13) Igoe, 2002; IUCN, 1997; Western, 1994.
(^14) Western, 1994.
(^15) Chatty and Colchester, 2002; IUCN, 1997.
(^16) Chatty and Colchester, 2002.
(^17) IUCN, 1997.
(^18) Margolis, 1997.
(^19) Mayell, 2002.
(^20) Quammen, 2003; Saberwal et al., 1994.
(^21) McNeely and Wachtel, 1998.
(^22) Along these lines Venkataraman (2000) argues that con-
servation planning and wildlife management in India
should incorporate traditional practices of tolerance and
coexistence, which have already contributed to conserva-
tion successes, a recommendation that
Conservation aas ccultural aand ppolitical ppractice
Francine Madden
([email protected]) is the Chair of a
Human-Wildlife Conflict Initiative promoted by
IUCN/CEESP/TILCEPA to bring together a diverse,
global collaboration of individuals and institutions
in support of local efforts to prevent and mitigate
human-wildlife conflict (HWC). Francine is a mem-
ber of CEESP/SLWG and TILCEPA.