Integrated Human-Animal Ecosystem Framework for Evaluating Sustainable Coexistence Between Communities and Wildlife

Abstract

Sustainable coexistence of human settlements and wild animals continues to pose a critical challenge to contemporary animal science especially in environments that involve farming, grazing and wild habitats. Current measures of human-wildlife interactions are limited in scope as they are conducted individually based on behaviours, physiology and socio-economics. The current paper outlines an Integrated Human-Animal Ecosystem Framework through which the different aspects of animal behavioural ecology, physiological well-being, population dynamics and husbandry methods could be considered together as an evaluation framework. The framework is built from documented practices within applied animal behaviour science, wildlife ecology and husbandry sciences. Different aspects of coexistence include depredation rate, physiological stress, reproductive success rate and tolerance of domestic and wild animals. Examples of the strategies for enhancing coexistence include guarding animals use, herd management techniques and behaviour-based deterrence techniques. The paper argues that sustainable coexistence should not be viewed as lack of conflicts but rather an equilibrium achieved through consistent animal-based husbandry and management practices. Implications for animal science research, extension practice and community-based wildlife management are discussed along with suggestions for future research work.