🐆 There is a rising
#HumanWildlifeConflict in
#Uttarakhand (
#India).
🌳 According to
#ChipkoMovement pioneer and
@MagsaysayAward winner
#ChandiPrasadBhatt, the
#solution lies not in killing wildlife, but in
#HumanWildlifeCoexistence grounded in
#ecology and
#BehaviourScience.
🐻 In earlier times, wild animals attacked humans far less frequently because:
-Forests were continuous and intact, with enough prey, water, and cover. Animals had no reason to enter villages.
-Humans moved in groups, not alone. Women sang folk songs while collecting grass in forests. The wood and fodder collection was collective and predictable. Animals avoid noise and groups.
-Villages regularly cleared shrubs and maintained open visibility around settlements.
-Animals were not habituated to humans as prey.
-People had traditional ecological knowledge and understood animal movement timings, seasonal risk periods, and warning signs in forests. This knowledge was passed orally and practiced daily.
-Lower human population & different lifestyle: less night movement, no bright lights, vehicles, or noise pollution. Animals could predict humans and avoid them.
-Animals do not attack malice, they react to stress and confusion.
🐯 Human–wildlife conflict increases when we change ecosystems and behavior, not because animals become violent.
🌲 Scientific researches shows that habitat fragmentation, land-use change, and altered human behavior are the primary drivers of conflict—not wildlife aggression.
🐒 The path to safety is not eradication. Solution exists in restoring coexistence, community practices, and ecological respect.
bhaskar.com/local/uttarakhan…
@FAOForestry @IUCN @UNBiodiversity @UNEP @doctorsoumya @PeterDaszak @1989_mariab @supriyasahuias @AsmitaLal17 @vashisthg @moefcc @narendramodi @PMOIndia @RedTapeMovement