Human-wildlife conflict is a major issue in conservation. As people encroach into natural habitats, and as conservation efforts restore wildlife to areas where they may have been absent for generations, contact between people and wild animals is growing. Some species, even the beautiful and endangered, can have serious impacts on human lives and livelihoods. Tigers kill people, elephants destroy crops and African wild dogs devastate sheep herds left unattended. Historically, people have responded to these threats by killing wildlife wherever possible, and this has led to the endangerment of many species that are difficult neighbours. The urgent need to conserve such species, however, demands coexistence of people and endangered wildlife. This book presents a variety of solutions to human-wildlife conflicts, including novel and traditional farming practices, offsetting the costs of wildlife damage through hunting and tourism, and the development of local and national policies.

Rosie Woodroffe is Assistant Professor of Conservation Biology at the University of California, Davis.

Simon Thirgood is Science Leader of the Ecology of Grazed Ecosystems Programme at the Macaulay Institute in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Alan Rabinowitz is Director of the Science and Exploration Division for the Wildlife Conservation Society based at the Bronx Zoo in New York.