HumanWildlife Coexistence: Insights and Strategies for Sustainable Harmony

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Human-Animal Interactions, Animal Behaviour and Emotion".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 May 2025 | Viewed by 3572

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Anthropology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
Interests: species conservation; human-wildlife relationships; local environmental knowledge; household well-being; resource management and governance; social-ecological system complexity; adaptation to environmental change

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Wildlife lives with humans in diverse landscapes, ranging from cities, suburbs and rural communities to resource extraction zones and protected areas across the Global North and Global South. Its presence affects ecosystem wellbeing, functioning and resilience, as well as livelihood success, safety and health risks, economic markets, governance, and individual and cultural connections with nature. Conflicts that arise in human–wildlife interactions are a significant conservation issue.

Human–wildlife coexistence posits a holistic reframing of the human–wildlife relationship, and encourages the multidisciplinary exploration of positive, neutral and negative interactions. Human–wildlife coexistence requires active choices by humans to sustainably share spaces and resources with wildlife. Coexistence recognizes that human–wildlife conflict occurs, and strives to mitigate its impacts on the affected human and wildlife communities through dynamic, adaptive and locally appropriate management.

The complexity, uncertainty and dynamic nature of the social–ecological systems we share with wildlife necessitates coexistence strategies that offer sustainable success at the landscape level while addressing local problems. This Special Issue highlights insights and strategies that support sustainable human–wildlife coexistence in diverse landscapes across the globe, inviting original research articles and reviews that address this aim.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. L. Jen Shaffer
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • adaptive management
  • community engagement
  • conflict mitigation
  • conservation
  • environmental governance
  • habitat restoration
  • land use planning
  • livelihoods
  • technological innovation
  • traditional/indigenous knowledge

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 10516 KiB  
Article
The Spatial Relationship Between Two Sympatric Pheasant Species and Various Human Disturbance Activities
by Lanrong Wang, Yuting Lu, Yinfan Cai, Liling Ji, Dapeng Pang, Meisheng Zhou, Yang Cheng, Faguang Pu and Baowei Zhang
Animals 2025, 15(1), 95; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani15010095 - 3 Jan 2025
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Abstract
Establishing and managing nature reserves to mitigate wildlife habitat loss and fragmentation is challenging, particularly in the face of increasing human activity. To understand how wildlife coexists in environments affected by anthropogenic disturbances, we conducted a 19-month survey examining the Reeves’s pheasant ( [...] Read more.
Establishing and managing nature reserves to mitigate wildlife habitat loss and fragmentation is challenging, particularly in the face of increasing human activity. To understand how wildlife coexists in environments affected by anthropogenic disturbances, we conducted a 19-month survey examining the Reeves’s pheasant (Syrmaticus reevesii) and Koklass pheasant (Pucrasia macrolopha) in the Anhui Tianma National Nature Reserve, China. Previous studies of large terrestrial birds focused primarily on livestock impacts, with less attention given to other human activities. We used occupancy models and performed daytime activity rhythm analysis based on camera trap data to examine the spatiotemporal responses of these species to human activities, livestock, and domestic dogs. The results showed that human disturbance activities within the reserve impact the distribution patterns of Reeves’s pheasant and Koklass pheasant, but the effect was not significant. In high-disturbance environments, both species adjusted their activity times to avoid direct or indirect interactions with humans, livestock, and dogs. These findings provide insights for replanning core and creation of buffer zones within the reserve and have broader implications for conservation strategies in similar habitats. Our study suggests that well-designed conservation objectives can balance species protection with sustainable human presence. Full article
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24 pages, 4353 KiB  
Article
What Is the Attitude of Romanian Smallholders Towards a Ground Mole Infestation? A Study Using Topic Modelling and Sentiment Analysis on Social Media and Blog Discussions
by Alina Delia Călin and Adriana Mihaela Coroiu
Animals 2024, 14(24), 3611; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14243611 - 14 Dec 2024
Viewed by 2574
Abstract
In this paper, we analyse the attitudes and sentiments of Romanian smallholders towards mole infestations, as expressed in online contexts. A corpus of texts on the topic of ground moles and how to get rid of them was collected from social media and [...] Read more.
In this paper, we analyse the attitudes and sentiments of Romanian smallholders towards mole infestations, as expressed in online contexts. A corpus of texts on the topic of ground moles and how to get rid of them was collected from social media and blog thread discussions. The texts were analysed using topic modelling, clustering, and sentiment analysis, revealing both negative and positive sentiments and attitudes. The methods used by farmers when dealing with ground moles involve both eco-friendly repellent solutions and toxic substances and pesticides. Even well-intentioned farmers are discouraged by crop and lawn damage, resorting to environmentally aggressive solutions. The study shows that the relationship between humans and moles could be improved by active education on effective ecological agricultural approaches. Full article
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