People and animals are increasingly coming into conflict over living space and food. Animals suffer when people enter their habitat, people suffer when animals enter their homes and fields. This is mainly due to expanding human populations and the continued loss of natural habitats. Human animal conflicts are an important aspect of management of forests as they have enormous implication to the well being and livelihood of the people in our country. The protection of wildlife has a long tradition in Indian history. The real problem does not lie in the protection and conservation but in the men and animals. Human activity is taking its toll on our closest relatives. The animals are being squeezed into smaller and smaller areas of remaining natural habitat, which are surrounded by crops that herbivores like to eat. Hence, Human­Wildlife Conflict is any interaction, between wildlife and humans which causes harm, whether it’s to the human, the wild animal, or property. Human Animal Conflicts (HAC) also weakens human welfare, health and safety, and has economic and social costs. Nuisance encounters with small animals, exposure to zoonotic diseases, physical injury or even death caused by large predators attacks have high financial costs for individuals and society in the form of medical treatments to cure and prevent infections transmitted from animals. Humans can be economically affected through annihilation and damage to property and infrastructure livestock depredation, transmission of domestic animal diseases, such as foot and mouth. On the other side animals are hunted by man for flesh and eggs as food, hide, skin and shell for fancy leather articles and handicrafts, teeth and bones as charms, fat for alleged medicinal properties and venom for preparation of medicinal products as well as they also hunted for the protection of their own life. HAC not only affects rural and vulnerable communities, but commercial cattle ranches too. It is clear that with this interface of human and large mammals, conflicts are inevitable.

Keywords: Human Animal Conflicts; Natural Habitats; Livelihood; Vulnerable Communities