Breaking Through Disciplinary Barriers: Human-Wildlife Interactions and Multispecies Ethnography

Zoonotic pathogens in wild Asian primates: a systematic review highlighting research gaps

Introduction

Ongoing global changes, including natural land conversion for agriculture and urbanization, modify the dynamics of human-primate contacts, resulting in increased zoonotic risks. Although Asia shelters high primate diversity and experiences rapid expansion of human-primate contact zones, there remains little documentation regarding zoonotic surveillance in the primates of this region.

Methods

Using the PRISMA guidelines, we conducted a systematic review to compile an inventory of zoonotic pathogens detected in wild Asian primates, while highlighting the coverage of primate species, countries, and pathogen groups surveyed, as well as the diagnostic methods used across the studies. Moreover, we compared the species richness of pathogens harbored by primates across diverse types of habitats classified according to their degree of anthropization (i.e., urban vs. rural vs. forest habitats).

Results and discussion

Searches of Scopus, PubMed, and the Global Mammal Parasite Database yielded 152 articles on 39 primate species. We inventoried 183 pathogens, including 63 helminthic gastrointestinal parasites, two blood-borne parasites, 42 protozoa, 45 viruses, 30 bacteria, and one fungus. Considering each study as a sample, species accumulation curves revealed no significant differences in specific richness between habitat types for any of the pathogen groups analyzed. This is likely due to the insufficient sampling effort (i.e., a limited number of studies), which prevents drawing conclusive findings. This systematic review identified several publication biases, particularly the uneven representation of host species and pathogen groups studied, as well as a lack of use of generic diagnostic methods. Addressing these gaps necessitates a multidisciplinary strategy framed in a One Health approach, which may facilitate a broader inventory of pathogens and ultimately limit the risk of cross-species transmission at the human-primate interface. Strengthening the zoonotic surveillance in primates of this region could be realized notably through the application of more comprehensive diagnostic techniques such as broad-spectrum analyses without a priori selection.

Human-nature relationships: An introduction to social-ecological practice theory for human-wildlife interactions

Conservation science requires a balance of social and ecological perspectives to understand human-wildlife interactions. We look for an integrative social-ecological framework that emphasizes equal representation across social and ecological conservation sciences. In this perspective, we suggest "social-ecological practice theory", an integration of general ecological theory and anthropology's practice theory, for a conservation-minded social-ecological framework to better theorize human-nature relationships. Our approach deliberately pulls from subdisciplines of anthropology, specifically a body of social theory founded by anthropology and social science called practice theory. We then illustrate how to apply social-ecological practice theory to our case study in the Makgadikgadi region of Botswana. We highlight how the practices of people, lions, and cattle-in combination with environmental and structural features-provide the needed context to deepen the understanding of human-wildlife conflict in the region. Social-ecological practice theory highlights the complexity that exists on the landscape, and may more effectively result in conservation strategies for human-wildlife coexistence.

Human-black bear conflict: crop raiding by Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan

Abstract Asiatic black bear has long been in conflict with human beings crop raiding is a major cause of this conflict frequently noted in South Asia. Crops raided by black bears affected by temporal, spatial and anthropogenic attributes. Insight in this conflict and its mitigation is vital for the conservation of this threatened species. Present study aimed to evaluate crop raiding by black bears in the mountainous region of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Field surveys were carried out to observe spatial and temporal crop raiding features between 2015-2020 and data gathered using designed questionnaires randomly tailored in villages nearby the forests. Results revealed that maize was the sole crop raided by black bears. A total of 28-acre area was raided by black bear in the fall season (Aug-November) resulting in a damage of 51 metric tons, whole raiding was carried out at night. Each respondent received crop damage on 0.09 acre with a loss of 0.17 metric ton yield. Crop quantity and area were significantly correlated to each other. District Neelum shared 49% of the total crop loss, while 47% of the maize was raided at the altitudinal range of 2100-2500 m. crop raiding was highly significantly ( χ 2 = 1174.64 ; d f = 308 ; p < 0.01) dependent upon distance to the forest. Linear regression revealed that maize quantity was determined by area, time and the total field area. Farmers faced 3.8 million PKRs loss due to crop damage by black bears. Despite the huge loss, the majority (23%) of the respondents did not respond to the query on mitigation measures indicating a poor adaptation of preventive measures. Preferred strategy to avoid crop damage was making noise (27.8%) when bears attacked their crops. A start of compensation scheme to the farmers is recommended that will have turned their negative attitude into a positive one toward the wildlife and black bear particularly. Study provides a new insight in human-bear conflict, particularly in spatial and temporal context of crop raiding in AJ&K.

Human and Non-Human Primate Coexistence in Argentina: Conflicts and Solutions

There are five different primate species inhabiting widely distinct ecoregions in Argentina. Each of them faces various threats in terms of conservation and conflicts that hamper their ability to coexist with human populations. We present here some of the drivers known to be the causes of conflicts between humans and primates in the southernmost area of distribution of Latin American primates. We focus our synthesis on two of the biggest sources of conflict: the effects of different anthropogenic disturbances, and human misconceptions concerning the role of primates in the ecosystem. In each section, we briefly characterize the conflicts worldwide and then provide specific cases and examples from Argentina. In the last part of the manuscript, we further describe some ongoing national and regional educational, research, and conservation approaches to mitigate those effects.

Connectivity modelling in conservation science: a comparative evaluation

Landscape connectivity, the extent to which a landscape facilitates the flow of ecological processes such as organism movement, has grown to become a central focus of applied ecology and conservation science. Several computational algorithms have been developed to understand and map connectivity, and many studies have validated their predictions using empirical data. Yet at present, there is no published comparative analysis which uses a comprehensive simulation framework to measure the accuracy and performance of the dominant methods in connectivity modelling. Given the widespread usage of such models in spatial ecology and conservation science, a thorough evaluation of their predictive abilities using simulation techniques is essential for guiding their appropriate and effective application across different contexts. In this paper, we address this by using the individual-based movement model Pathwalker to simulate different connectivity scenarios generated from a wide range of possible movement behaviours and spatial complexities. With this simulated data, we test the predictive abilities of three major connectivity models: factorial least-cost paths, resistant kernels, and Circuitscape. Our study shows the latter two of these three models to consistently perform most accurately in nearly all cases, with their abilities varying substantially in different contexts. For the majority of conservation applications, we infer resistant kernels to be the most appropriate model, except for when the movement is strongly directed towards a known location. We conclude this paper with a review and interdisciplinary discussion of the current limitations and possible future developments of connectivity modelling.

Global importance of Indigenous Peoples, their lands, and knowledge systems for saving the world's primates from extinction

Primates, represented by 521 species, are distributed across 91 countries primarily in the Neotropic, Afrotropic, and Indo-Malayan realms. Primates inhabit a wide range of habitats and play critical roles in sustaining healthy ecosystems that benefit human and nonhuman communities. Approximately 68% of primate species are threatened with extinction because of global pressures to convert their habitats for agricultural production and the extraction of natural resources. Here, we review the scientific literature and conduct a spatial analysis to assess the significance of Indigenous Peoples' lands in safeguarding primate biodiversity. We found that Indigenous Peoples' lands account for 30% of the primate range, and 71% of primate species inhabit these lands. As their range on these lands increases, primate species are less likely to be classified as threatened or have declining populations. Safeguarding Indigenous Peoples' lands, languages, and cultures represents our greatest chance to prevent the extinction of the world's primates.

Exploring Routes to Coexistence: Developing and Testing a Human–Elephant Conflict-Management Framework for African Elephant-Range Countries

Creating a future for elephants and people is a highly complex and dynamic challenge, involving social, behavioral, and ecological dimensions as well as multiple actors with various interests. To foster learning from human–elephant conflict (HEC) management projects and share best practices, a study was conducted to review the management of conflicts between elephants and humans in 12 African countries by qualitative expert interviews. Based on this information, a HEC management framework was developed in a two-tiered process. In the first phase, the theory of the framework was developed. In a second phase, the theoretical framework was validated and adjusted through stakeholder participation in two southern African projects (in Mozambique and Malawi). This holistic approach considers environmental as well as social, political, cultural, and economic factors directly or indirectly affecting interactions between people and wildlife. The framework integrates six interlinked strategies to guide managers and conservation practitioners to address HWC drivers and mitigate their impact. A legal environment and spatial planning form the basis of the framework. Social strategies, including meaningful stakeholder engagement and design of appropriate institutional structures and processes are considered the heart of the framework. Technical and financial strategies represent its arms and hands. At the top, monitoring steers all processes, provides feedback for adjustment, and informs decisions. The integration and coordination of these six strategies has great potential as a guiding route to human–wildlife coexistence in Africa and elsewhere.

Working from the Inside Out: Fostering Intrinsic Motivation and Expanding Our Criteria for Conservation Success

Primatological research is often associated with understanding animals and their habitats, yet practical conservation depends entirely on human actions. This encompasses the activities of Indigenous and local people, conservationists, and NGOs working on the ground, as well as more remote funders and policymakers. In this paper we explore what it means to be a conservationist in the 2020s. While many primatologists accept the benefits of more socially inclusive dimensions of research and conservation practice, in reality there remain many challenges. We discuss the role primatologists can play to enhance interdisciplinary working and their relationships with communities living in and around their study sites, and examine how increased reflexivity and consideration of one’s positionality can improve primatological practice. Emphasis on education and stakeholder consultation may still echo colonial, top-down dialogues, and the need for greater emphasis on genuine knowledge-sharing among all stakeholders should be recognised. If we are sincere about this approach, we might need to redefine how we see, consider, and define conservation success. We may also have to embrace more compromises. By evaluating success in conservation we explore how reflexive engagements with our positionality and equitable knowledge-sharing contribute to fostering intrinsic motivation and building resilience.

Developing an Evidence-Based Coexistence Strategy to Promote Human and Wildlife Health in a Biodiverse Agroforest Landscape

Agroforest mosaics represent one of the most extensive human-impacted terrestrial systems worldwide and play an increasingly critical role in wildlife conservation. In such dynamic shared landscapes, coexistence can be compromised if people view wildlife as a source of infectious disease. A cross-disciplinary One Health knowledge base can help to identify evolving proponents and threats to sustainable coexistence and establish long-term project goals. Building on an existing knowledge base of human–wildlife interactions at Cantanhez National Park (NP), Guinea-Bissau, we developed a causal pathway Theory-of-Change approach in response to a newly identified disease threat of leprosy in the Critically Endangered western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus). The goals of our project are to improve knowledge and surveillance of leprosy in humans and wildlife and increase capacity to manage human–wildlife interactions. We describe the core project activities that aim to (1) quantify space use by chimpanzees across Cantanhez NP and determine the distribution of leprosy in chimpanzees; (2) understand the health system and local perceptions of disease; and (3) identify fine-scale risk sites through participatory mapping of resources shared by humans and chimpanzees across target villages. We discuss the development of a biodiversity and health monitoring programme, an evidence-based One Health campaign, and a One Health environmental management plan that incorporates the sharing of space and resources, and the disease implications of human–non-human great ape interactions. We demonstrate the importance of multi-stakeholder engagement, and the development of strategy that fully considers interactions between people, wildlife, and the environment.

Leprosy in wild chimpanzees

Humans are considered as the main host for Mycobacterium leprae1, the aetiological agent of leprosy, but spillover has occurred to other mammals that are now maintenance hosts, such as nine-banded armadillos and red squirrels2,3. Although naturally acquired leprosy has also been described in captive nonhuman primates4-7, the exact origins of infection remain unclear. Here we describe leprosy-like lesions in two wild populations of western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) in Cantanhez National Park, Guinea-Bissau and Taï National Park, Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa. Longitudinal monitoring of both populations revealed the progression of disease symptoms compatible with advanced leprosy. Screening of faecal and necropsy samples confirmed the presence of M. leprae as the causative agent at each site and phylogenomic comparisons with other strains from humans and other animals show that the chimpanzee strains belong to different and rare genotypes (4N/O and 2F). These findings suggest that M. leprae may be circulating in more wild animals than suspected, either as a result of exposure to humans or other unknown environmental sources.

Sharing Spaces and Entanglements With Big Cats: The Warli and Their Waghoba in Maharashtra, India

Long histories of sharing space and resources have built complex, robust, and enduring relationships between humans and wildlife in many communities across the world. In order to understand what makes it possible for humans and wildlife to share space, we have to look beyond the ecological and socio-economic study of damages caused by human-wildlife conflict and explore the cultural and societal context within which co-existence is embedded. We conducted an exploratory study on the institution of Waghoba, a big cat deity worshiped by the Indigenous Warli community in Maharashtra, India. Through our research, we found that the worship of Waghoba is highly prevalent, with 150 shrines dedicated to this deity across our study site. We also learnt that the Warlis believe in a reciprocal relationship, where Waghoba will protect them from the negative impacts of sharing spaces with big cats if the people worship the deity and conduct the required rituals, especially the annual festival of Waghbaras. We propose that such relationships facilitate the sharing spaces between humans and leopards that live in the landscape. The study also revealed the ways in which the range of institutions and stakeholders in the landscape shape the institution of Waghoba and thereby contribute to the human-leopard relationship in the landscape. This is relevant for present-day wildlife conservation because such traditional institutions are likely to act as tolerance-building mechanisms embedded within the local cosmology. Further, it is vital that the dominant stakeholders outside of the Warli community (such as the Forest Department, conservation biologists, and other non-Warli residents who interact with leopards) are informed about and sensitive to these cultural representations because it is not just the biological animal that the Warlis predominantly deal with.

Chimpanzees balance resources and risk in an anthropogenic landscape of fear

Human-wildlife coexistence is possible when animals can meet their ecological requirements while managing human-induced risks. Understanding how wildlife balance these trade-offs in anthropogenic environments is crucial to develop effective strategies to reduce risks of negative interactions, including bi-directional aggression and disease transmission. For the first time, we use a landscape of fear framework with Bayesian spatiotemporal modelling to investigate anthropogenic risk-mitigation and optimal foraging trade-offs in Critically Endangered western chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus). Using 12 months of camera trap data (21 camera traps, 6722 camera trap days) and phenology on wild and cultivated plant species collected at Caiquene–Cadique, Cantanhez National Park (Guinea-Bissau), we show that humans and chimpanzees broadly overlapped in their use of forest and anthropogenic parts of the habitat including villages and cultivated areas. The spatiotemporal model showed that chimpanzee use of space was predicted by the availability of naturalised oil-palm fruit. Chimpanzees used areas away from villages and agriculture more intensively, but optimised their foraging strategies by increasing their use of village areas with cultivated fruits when wild fruits were scarce. Our modelling approach generates fine-resolution space–time output maps, which can be scaled-up to identify human-wildlife interaction hotspots at the landscape level, informing coexistence strategy.

Usage, definition, and measurement of coexistence, tolerance and acceptance in wildlife conservation research in Africa

The terms 'coexistence', 'tolerance,' and 'acceptance' appear frequently in conservation literature, but lack consistent characterization, making them difficult to apply across intervention frameworks. This review aims to describe the common characterizations of these three terms using Africa-based research as a case study. Through systematic lexical searches, we identified 392 papers containing one or more of the three terms. We assessed their usage, definition, and measurement (or lack thereof) in wildlife conservation. Coexistence was used in 46% of papers, but was defined in only 2% and measured in 4%. Tolerance and acceptance were used in 63% and 61% of the papers in which they appeared, respectively, defined in 4% and 2%, and measured in 19% and 5%. These results confirm the lack of clear understanding of these concepts and evidence the need for a precise lexicon. This would allow conservationists to cohesively describe their work and increase replicability of research across contexts.

Ethnography, ethnobiology and natural history: narratives on hunting and ecology of mammals among quilombolas from Southeast Brazil

BACKGROUND

As a leading practice of Homo sapiens' environmental experience for hundreds of millennia, hunting continues to evoke key research inquiries in the fields of archaeology, human ecology, and conservation biology. Broadly speaking, hunting has been mainly a subject of qualitative-symbolic and quantitative-materialistic schemata of analyze, among anthropologists and biologists, respectively. However, the phenomenological dimension of the hunting experience, in the course of individuals` everyday life, received little academic attention until this century. This study analyzes the daily praxis of hunting among quilombolas (descendants from runaway African slaves) in Southeast Brazil, making use of an ethnographic approach of phenomenological orientation, which dialogue with central ethnobiological issues. The authors also report the local ecological knowledge about mammals hunted in the area, and its relationship to the scientific literature on this subject.

METHODS

Between 2016 and 2019, the authors made use of participant observation and informal interviews among eight key local participants, in three quilombola communities in the Ribeira Valley (São Paulo, Brazil). Fragments of authors' field notes and parts of interviewers' speeches make up the core results obtained.

RESULTS

Articulating local knowledge to scientific literature, this study yielded a hybrid and comprehensive narrative about natural history of the mammals in the area. The authors also accessed elementary aspects of research participants' experience in hunting, such as strategies, tactics, motivations, and feelings. They reveal a set of human behavior dispositions that seems to emerge only in the context of the action, modulating the praxis of hunting on the course of individuals' everyday life.

CONCLUSION

Ethnography, ethnobiology, and natural sciences backgrounds were systematically articulated in this research. This made possible to get a contextualized and multifaceted understanding of hunting praxis in the Ribeira Valley, an important socioenvironmental context of Atlantic Forest in Brazil. The role of an ethnographic approach applied to ethnoecological and biological conservation issues is especially considered here.

A comparison of methods to determine chimpanzee home-range size in a forest-farm mosaic at Madina in Cantanhez National Park, Guinea-Bissau

Human activities impact the distribution of numerous species. Anthropogenic habitats are often fragmented, and wildlife must navigate through human-influenced and 'natural' parts of the landscape to access resources. Different methods to determine the home-range areas of nonhuman primates have not considered the additional complexities of ranging in anthropogenic areas. Here, using 6 months of spatial data on the distribution of chimpanzee presence (feces, feeding traces, nests, opportunistic encounters; n = 833) collected across the wet and dry seasons, we examine different analytical techniques to calculate the home-range size of an unhabituated chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) community inhabiting a forest-farm mosaic at Madina, Cantanhez National Park in Guinea-Bissau. The minimum convex polygon method and the grid cell (500 m × 500 m cell size) method estimated the chimpanzees home-range size at 19.02 and 15.50 km2, respectively with kernel analysis calculating a lower value of 8.52 km2. For the grid cell method, home-range estimates varied with cell size, with larger cells producing larger estimates. We compare our home-range estimates with other chimpanzee research sites across Africa. We recommend the use of kernel analysis for determining primate home ranges, especially for those groups exploiting fragmented habitats including forest-farm mosaics, as this method takes account of inaccessible or infrequently used anthropogenic areas across the complete home range of the primate group. However, care must be taken when using this method, since it is sensitive to small sample sizes that can occur when studying unhabituated communities, resulting in underestimated home ranges.

Primate occurrence across a human-impacted landscape in Guinea-Bissau and neighbouring regions in West Africa: using a systematic literature review to highlight the next conservation steps

Background

West African landscapes are largely characterised by complex agroforest mosaics. Although the West African forests are considered a nonhuman primate hotspot, knowledge on the distribution of many species is often lacking and out-of-date. Considering the fast-changing nature of the landscapes in this region, up-to-date information on primate occurrence is urgently needed, particularly of taxa such as colobines, which may be more sensitive to habitat modification than others. Understanding wildlife occurrence and mechanisms of persistence in these human-dominated landscapes is fundamental for developing effective conservation strategies.

Methods

In this paper, we aim to review current knowledge on the distribution of three threatened primates in Guinea-Bissau and neighbouring regions, highlighting research gaps and identifying priority research and conservation action. We conducted a systematic literature review of primate studies from 1976 to 2016 in Guinea-Bissau, southern Senegal and western Guinea (Boké Region). We mapped historical observation records of chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus), Temminck’s red colobus (Pilicolobus badius temminckii) and king colobus (Colobus polykomos), including our preliminary survey data from Dulombi, a newly established National Park (NP) in Guinea-Bissau.

Results

We found 151 documents, including 87 journal articles, that contained field data on primates in this region. In Guinea-Bissau, nearly all studies focussed south of the Corubal River, including mainly Cantanhez, Cufada, and Boé NP’s. In Senegal, most of the data came from Fongoli and Niokolo-Koba NP. In Boké (Guinea) studies are few, with the most recent data coming from Sangarédi. In Dulombi NP we recorded eight primate species, including chimpanzees, red colobus and king colobus. Across the selected region, chimpanzees, red colobus and king colobus were reported in eleven, twelve and seven protected areas, respectively.

Discussion

Our study demonstrates large geographical research gaps particularly for the two colobines. For the first time after more than two decades, we confirm the presence of red colobus and king colobus north of the Corubal River in Guinea-Bissau. The little information available from large parts of the red colobus range raises questions regarding levels of population fragmentation in this species, particularly in Casamance and across northern Guinea-Bissau. There are still no records demonstrating the occurrence of king colobus in Senegal, and the presence of a viable population in north-eastern Guinea-Bissau remains uncertain. While the occurrence of chimpanzees in Guinea-Bissau and Senegal is well documented, data from Boké (Guinea) are sparse and out-of-date. Our approach—the mapping of data gathered from a systematic literature review—allows us to provide recommendations for selecting future geographical survey locations and planning further research and conservation strategies in this region.