Climate Change and Its Effect on Man-Animal Conflict

Raakhee Suryaprakash

If you are a person who prefers flora and fauna to humanity, this article will interest you. In
addition to making the planet inhospitable for ourselves we are making it impossible for other
living things to survive and thrive. In addition to pollution and habitat destruction, global
warming and climate change is making it harder for wildlife especially to thrive. Even today the
climate stress on wildlife habitat is tremendous and if we cross the 1.5 degree threshold the
consequences will be devastating to plants and animals essential for ecological balance. While
the final canary in the mine will be the unchecked shrinking of bee colonies until their extinction
other more visible devastations are wreaked upon wildlife.

The devastating effect of warming and acidifying oceans on the reefs across the world has been
in the news for a few years now, as is its effect on the rapid decline in flora and how
uncomfortable its for marine life and even birds. But the focus of this article is the effects of
climate change on wildlife especially in buffer zones where man and animal interact. Climate
Change and its effect through drought, floods, forest fires, melting glaciers, habitat and food
destruction lead to wildlife wandering into areas of human habitation and clashing with humans
unsuccessfully for resources.

A lot has been written about the underreporting of the effect of climate change on threatened and
endangered species but it goes beyond the obvious. Approximately 50 percent threatened
mammals and about 25 percent respond negatively to climate change.

In a warming planet the moisture content in leaves such as that of Eucalyptus is down. With
these leaves being the only food for koalas we are seeing reports of koalas actually drinking
water. Instead of conserving their energy these marsupials have to look for water sources in a
continent with devastating summers. While there were older reports of this phenomenon during
summer now we find this happening almost the whole year round. And in a place where water is
at a premium this unusual stress can lead to the national animal being viewed as a pest. Its a
short step from being a pest to being culled as seen in many states in India.

In the Indian context climate change exacerbated long-drawn out drought coupled with
cloudburst flooding, unusual high temperatures, sea ingress, glacial melting and wildfires are
leading to more face-offs between man and beast over resources. Watering holes within forests
are drying up and the ones in buffer zones have dried up or been polluted more and more animals
are wandering into villages and cities to quench their thirst or get an easy meal. The eerie and dry
landscapes within what used to be green reserves are poignant in the photo series in the Hindu.
Migration is no longer human and from urban to rural but has become animal migration from
forests to human habitations in search of resources lost to them by our greed. Scientists estimate
that both flora and fauna have to migrate away from increasingly unfavorable climatic conditions
at a rate of 1 meter a year to keep within optimal climates to survive.
Reports of urban invasions by tigers, leopards, wild tuskers, rhinos, buffalos/bison, herds of deer
and very aggressive and innovative monkeys regularly make the news as the space and resources
to coexist peacefully shrinks due to pollution, unsustainable development and climate change.

In the 10,000 square kilometers of mangroves forests UNESCO heritage site the Sundarbans
(literally pretty forests) - the habitat of the Indian national animal the Royal Bengal Tiger is
shared by 4 million people and 200 tigers in 2 countries amidst the Bay of Bengal, and the
mighty rivers: Ganges, Meghna and Brahamaputra. Here the rising sea levels are eating into an
already concentrated buffer zone of man-animal coexistence bringing about conflict over
resources for survival. A pilot project thats helping ease the conflict is a project of solar powered
off-grid electrification thats bringing light to keep the big cats away from habitation and sources
of revenue that dont involve venturing into tiger territory. Solar powered pumps attached to bore
wells (Nagarahole National Park) are also used to revive water bodies within forest reserves in
other parts of India so renewables are coming being used to adapt to climate change.

While a major portion of the snow leopards territory in the Tibetan plateau (Altai, Qilian and
Tian Shan-Pamir-Hindu Kush-Karakoram mountain ranges) is climate proof thanks to its unique
ecosystem melting glaciers in more vulnerable portions of snow leopard territory brings these
highly endangered cats into conflict with people: 330 million people live within 10 km of glacial
birthplaces of rivers and with the ever-rising snow lines and tree lines as well as melting glaciers
the face-off with the ghost of the mountains is imminent. Exceeding the Paris Agreement
commitments could mean an acceleration of their endangerment and extinction. Many tribal
beliefs about tigers and snow leopards portend that once these big cats are gone humanitys time
on earth will be at the final countdown. So save the wild cats to save yourself by committing to a
smaller ecological footprint and work towards getting your governments to commit to sustaible
development and the national action plans to meet their Paris Climate Agreement targets.

Leopards in India live in protected areas that border major megapolises including financial and
services hubs Mumbai (Sanjay Gandhi National Park) and Bengaluru (Bannerghatta National
Park) with these cities and others creeping into forests which are now going dry and with a
dearth of prey, the leopards are more frequently wandering into the cities and not necessarily
with usual stealth. They get stuck in tanks, wells and schools. Causalities to both humans and
wandering wild cats are inevitable. Many villagers are calling for culling of elephants because
they are wandering into villages in search of water and foliage. First we slash and burn their
habitat, cause their food and water sources to dry up thanks to the 4 million ppm of carbon
dioxide superheating the planet and then when they migrate for survival they are deemed
dangerous pests!

Humanitys greed is devastating all life forms, as the Cree prophesy goes When the last tree is
cut down, the last fish eaten and the last stream poisoned, you will realize that you cannot eat
money. But it might be too late for us then! We can get off this path to hell. We just need
decouple our economy from fossil fuels, commit to a low-carbon growth, rejuvenate the soil to
enable it to trap carbon, increase afforestation, and adopt sustainable development, all in the
cause of halting and reversing climate change and global warming!

Caption: Why did the buffalo cross the East Coast Road - For a drink!

Caption: The monkey at the tap

Caption: 8th most endangered species - Tigers and sea ingress into the Sundarbans