Can Humans and Wildlife Coexist Peacefully?

India is one of few places where thousands of lions and tigers and bears (Oh my!) share the same land. They also share it with 1.4 billion people. Krithi: There is no other country on Earth where you find this much wildlife living alongside this many people. That’s Dr. Krithi Karanth—CEO and lead conservation scientist at the Centre for Wildlife Studies in India. Krithi: We have 18 percent of the world's population living next to some of the most iconic species found on the planet. This includes 70 percent of the world's tigers, 50 percent of the world's Asian elephants, 70 percent of wild dogs, and many, many other extremely charismatic species like leopards. But coexistence can come at a cost—especially when animals are seen as risks, or worse, as accessories. Krithi: That is the number one threat, which is the direct hunting of animals for their meat, scales, feathers, fur, and different body parts. And this is on a massive scale, not just in India, everywhere in the world. Tigers are a stark example. One hundred years ago, there were about 100,000 tigers in the wild; today, fewer than 4,000 remain. Over 100 tigers are poached every year, pushing this species closer to extinction. The reality is harsh—but it doesn’t have to stay that way. How might we build a world where both wildlife and people can thrive? Krithi: This is not rocket science. I think what we need to do is really make the effort to manage land use and manage how and what spaces are left for wildlife. It’s not just about redrawing maps—it’s about rethinking how we live within them. Krithi: What would be really smart is to kind of create these landscapes, some parts of the world exclusively set aside for wildlife, some parts of the world where people and animals can overlap—but not harm each other—and then some parts of the world which are exclusively for people. Krithi: Community engagement is not just restricted to frontline forest staff responsible for the wildlife. It has to involve every stakeholder, whether it be a child, it be a farmer, it be somebody working in a primary health center. Krithi: People living around these dense wildlife areas come into frequent and regular conflict with animals, and so can you mitigate that conflict? Can you get them to value wildlife and understand how to share space? And I think all of this needs to be done in parallel. Saving animals is one thing. Learning to live with them? Now that’s where things get wild.