ATTITUDE OF THE PEOPLE REGARDING WILDLIFE CONSERVATION, CAUSES OF HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT AND ITS MITIGATION MEASURES IN KASHMIR VALLEY

The present study was initiated to assess the attitude of local people living near the forests in ten (10) districts of Kashmir valley during the year 2016 -2018. The main aim was to assess the perception of people regarding wildlife conservation and general knowledge of local populace in this regard. It was also to know about Human-Wildlife conflict and the mitigation measures from the local point of view. About one thousand (1000) people belonging to the age group 18 to 76 years were questioned with hundred (100) from each district making sure each village of the districts belonging to all the five (5) wildlife divisions of Kashmir valley gets covered. population trend, 71% of the people were of the opinion that the population of the wild animal is increasing while the 19% of the people responded negative and 10% of population were not sure and gave no answer.An interesting find during the study was that Leopards and Wolves kill and consume the livestock, but the Black Bears go on silly rampage killing maximum and consuming minimum. About 47 % of the people from all the 10 districts held an opinion that sheep/goat were the cattle depredated most followed by cattle (cow, ox, buffalo etc.) about 31 % by Leopards and Black Bears and horsed around 14% by Leopards. Only 8% of the people reported others which included poultry, ducks and pets by Porcupines, Jackals and Foxes.Around 23% of the people guarding their fields using Dokas (Machans) said that this was by far the most effective method in keeping wild-animals away, 19% of the people are using watch dogs, 14% of the people are using the scare crows, 10% of the people were using wind chimes, around 11% that of the people were using methods of lighting fire as it is believed that fire has proved to be one of the best deterrent for wild animals.