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INTRODUCTION
burgeoning human population means that people and wildlife come into
contact even more frequently (Conover, 2002) leading to the human- wildlife
In India, the population size of sloth bear is estimated conflict. The most obvious human–wildlife conflict situation is one where a wild
between 6000 and 11000, secure habitat of high quality is animal destroys someone’s property or takes a human life, which may lead to
estimated about only 10% of the forest area (Yoganand et. retaliatory action on the part of the human (Dickman, 2016).
al, 2006) and sloth bears may occupy 52% of total India's
land area (Puri et al., 2015). Western Ghats range and Literature also shows that people living around sloth bear habitat have very

central India are strong hold for distribution for little knowledge about sloth bear, its behavior, biology and food habits. On the
population abundance of the sloth bear (Yoganand et. al, contrary, there are several myths and misbeliefs about sloth bears among the
2006; Dharaiya et al., 2020). people that make them hostile and intolerant to the presence of sloth bears
around them. Sloth bears are also found moving outside the forest into human-
Sloth bears are patchily distributed in highly fragmented dominated areas mainly in search of water and food, which often results in
forest patches in India. Sloth bear habitat includes wet sudden encounters with humans, attacks on humans, and occasionally the
and dry tropical forests, savannah, scrublands and death of humans or retaliatory killing of sloth bears.
grasslands that are generally found below 1500 m altitude
(Dharaiya et al., 2017). Disjoint habitats and serious In China, although human–wildlife conflict shaped peoples’ attitudes towards
anthropogenic pressure are two of the reasons for bears, it was the presence of strong economic incentives (illegal trade in bear
increased sloth bear attacks on humans. parts) rather than attitudes which prompted illegal killing (Liu et al., 2011).

Nearly 90% of India is affected by HWC, Conflict is an inevitable reality with an
concerning 88 different species (Anand & increasing human population and the loss
Radhakrishna, 2017). In Gujarat, incidents of of natural habitat (Dickman, 2016). It is likely
human-sloth bear conflicts are prevalent that in most conflict scenarios, a multitude
and increasing (Garcia et al., 2016). The of different factors will come into play,
previous research on sloth bear ecology making conflict a very complex issue to
and human-sloth bear conflicts revealed resolve but being aware of relevant drivers
that the main reasons behind the increased in any specific situation will help
number of sloth bear attacks are loss of conservationists develop multifaceted and
habitat, fragmentation of existing habitats culturally appropriate mitigation initiatives
(Garshelis et al., 1999), and sharing of to encourage coexistence with wildlife in

resources between humans and sloth bears today’s human-dominated world (Dickman,
(Garshelis et al., 1999). As a follow up of this 2016).
research, it is felt necessary to initiate the
awareness, education and outreach Our findings suggest that one way of
activities in the sloth bear corridor areas so mitigating conflicts and enhancing habitats
that local people can appreciate the is to connect the fragmented and isolated
presence of sloth bear in the area and learn forest patches through corridors. Since 2014,
how to avoid the encounter with them. we have carried out research to identify
One of the most pressing issues in modern corridors throughout sloth bear habitat in
biodiversity conservation is that the world’s © Vicky Chauhan our region using remote sensing and

01 Sloth bear Conservation Education Programme 02 Sloth bear Conservation Education Programme
WCB Research Foundation WCB Research Foundation