Understanding Conflicts about Wildlife: A Biosocial Approach

Conflicts about wildlife are usually portrayed and understood as resulting from the negative impacts of wildlife on human livelihoods or property. However, a greater depth of analysis reveals that many instances of human-wildlife conflict are often better understood as people-people conflict, wherein there is a clash of values between different human groups. Understanding Conflicts About Wildlife unites academics and practitioners from across the globe to develop a holistic view of these interactions. It considers the political and social dimensions of ‘human-wildlife conflicts’ alongside effective methodological approaches, and will be of value to academics, conservationists and policy makers.

Catherine M. Hill is Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University.  Her main areas of research are people-wildlife interactions and conservation and local communities.  Prior to her current appointment she was a lecturer in Biological Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology, University of Durham (1994-2000) and the Demonstrator in Human Ecology, Institute of Biological Anthropology, Oxford University (1991-1993).

Amanda D. Webber is a Lecturer in Conservation Science at Bristol Zoological Society.  She is also an Honorary Research Associate at Oxford Brookes University.  Her research focuses on human-wildlife interactions and she is interested in people’s perceptions of wildlife (particularly urban or ‘pest’ species) and the development of co-existence strategies.

Nancy E. C. Priston is an Honorary Research Associate at Oxford Brookes University.  Her research examines human-wildlife conflict with a predominantly interdisciplinary approach, incorporating both the perspectives of wildlife and local people.