Human Wildlife Conflict

人類與野生動物沖突

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to deliver a speech on a conservation issue.

HOMEOWNER: I was taking out the garbage, like I do every night after dinner. As I approached the trash cans, I heard a noise. At first I thought it was a cat or a raccoon, but then I saw it ... I ... was ... terrified! This is an example of "Human Wildlife Conflict".

ADVENTURER: "Human Wildlife Conflict" has two main causes: the destruction of animals' natural habitat by humans, and the out-of-control population explosion of humans. Did you know, that by the year two thousand and forty two, the population of the world is expected to reach nine billion? Nine billion! That's a lot of people! Where are they all going to live?

ADVENTURER1: Even now, with the population around seven billion, humans and animals are finding it increasingly difficult to live together. Humans are taking over habitats once inhabited mainly by wild animals—mountains, rainforests, jungles, deserts—and this is making "Human Wildlife Conflict" a bigger and bigger problem.

TARAK: Our village lies on the border between India and Bangladesh. Recently, there have been many cyclones, which have caused terrible floods. Even the village elders have never seen such crazy weather before. They believe climate change is to blame. The bad weather has increasingly forced the villagers to go deep into the forests to find food.

TARAK1: Of course, the tigers don't like this. My father was coming home one evening after fishing all day he was carrying a large net full of fish, and was unable to protect himself. The tiger must have followed him by swimming across the river. It was old, thin and hungry. It attacked my father.

ADVENTURER: Tarak's father had a lucky escape, but he was badly injured, the tiger jumping onto his back and knocking him to the ground. Although hungry, however, the tiger didn't kill or eat Tarak's father. The big cat growled and then just walked off, as if having made his point! Experts still don't agree on why tigers are attacking humans. Is it really because they're hungry?

ADVENTURER1: If so, why is Tarak's father still alive? Perhaps it's because the tigers are angry at humans for taking over their territory. Is it war? If there really is a war going on between humans and animals, then we should admit that humans are the cause of it. We're the ones eating all the food, we're the ones taking up all the space.

ADVENTURER2: Finding a bear or a tiger in your back yard is a scary experience, but ask yourself this question: who was there first?