Description
Wild animals raid crops, attack livestock, and sometimes threaten people. Conflicts with wildlife are widespread, assume a variety of forms, and elicit a range of human responses. Wildlife pests are frequently demonized and resisted by local communities while routinely 'controlled' by state authorities. However, to the great concern of conservationists, the history of many people-wildlife conflicts lies in human encroachment into wildlife territory.
In Natural Enemies the authors place the analytical focus on the human dimension of these conflicts - an area often neglected by specialists in applied ecology and wildlife management - and on their social and political contexts. Case studies of specific conflicts are drawn from Africa, Asia, Europe and America, and feature an assortment of wild animals, including chimpanzees, elephants, wild pigs, foxes, bears, wolves, pigeons and ducks.
These anthropologists challenge the narrow utilitarian view of wildlife pestilence by revealing the cultural character of many of our 'natural enemies'. Their reports from the 'front-line' expose one fact - human conflict with wildlife is often an expression of conflict between people.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction, KnightJohn; Chapter 2 Wildlife depredations in Malawi, Brian Morris; Chapter 3 Half-man, half-elephant, AxelKöhler; Chapter 4 Chimpanzees as political animals in Sierra Leone, Paul Richards; Chapter 5 Wild pigs, ‘pig-men’ and transmigrants in the rainforest of Sumatra, Simon Rye; Chapter 6 Animals behaving badly, Ben Campbell; Chapter 7 Culling demons, John Knight; Chapter 8 The wolf, the Saami and the urban shaman, Galina Lindquist; Chapter 9 The problem of foxes, Garry Marvin; Chapter 10 The Great Pigeon Massacre in a deindustrializing American region, S. Hoon Song; Chapter 11 Ducks out of water, Kay Milton;
