YES-27-B-06: Multi-species wildlife conflict mitigation in southern Africa

Human wildlife conflict (HWC) presents a great challenge to conservationists across Africa and has negative outcomes for both people and wildlife populations. Much of the attention around HWC has focused on single species, such as human elephant or human lion conflict. The mitigation of multi-species conflict with human communities remains understudied, particularly where this pertains to crop raiding large herbivores and disease transmission risks, such as anthrax outbreaks affecting both livestock and wildlife. The PhD student will investigate the ecological, socioeconomic, and health-related impacts of conflict involving elephants, hippopotamuses, and African buffalo at selected wildlife-livestock-human interfaces in southern Africa. Using community surveys, spatial analyses, conflict records, and disease-risk assessments, the project will quantify the relative costs of different conflict types, identify environmental and social drivers of conflict, and evaluate community attitudes towards mitigation strategies. Findings will support integrated approaches to managing multi-species conflict and improving coexistence between people, livestock, and wildlife. Candidate experience of working in southern Africa is preferred. Access to data on wildlife conflict within the region will be advantageous, as will pre-existing regional networks.