Adwait Deshpande

Human–wildlife conflict (HWC) is a growing global conservation challenge, yet the animal behaviours that directly generate conflict are rarely studied in the settings where conflict actually occurs. Furthermore, conservation practitioners and affected communities seldom leverage ethological knowledge for designing mitigation measures. This pilot project addresses that gap by testing an embedded ethological approach to HWC.

The project combines two components. First, it will conduct a pilot field study with semi-nomadic Dhangar shepherds in Pune, India, where wolves and leopards frequently target temporary night corrals to attack sheep. By living with shepherds during fieldwork, the project will embed an ethologist within an ongoing HWC scenario. Using direct observations through thermal cameras and drones, camera traps and interviews with shepherds, it will document predator approaches, attacks or near-attacks, and human responses to conflict in real time. This will generate rare, high-resolution behavioural data on predators, which could help designnovel, ethologically grounded mitigation measures while also testing the feasibility of systematically studying conflict-related animal behaviour in an active conflict.

Second, the project will assess the broader application of this approach through interviews, structured conversations, and a small targeted survey of ethologists, conservation practitioners, conflict-affected communities, and HWC researchers worldwide. Exploratory visits to two additional conflict systems, such as European wolf conflict and African elephant crop-raiding, will help identify where such an approach could add value, the practical challenges it would face, and the future data-collection and collaboration opportunities. Together, these components will provide a proof of concept for bringing ethology directly into HWC research.

The project will generate pilot data, test a new field-based approach, and build a solid foundation for a larger future project linking animal behaviour and cognition to HWC, with the broader aim of promoting humanwildlife coexistence.