Socio-economic Status of Cultivators and their Interface with Wild Animals: a Case Study of Marayur forest Range, Kerala

Declaration of forests as Protected Areas, implementation of Wildlife Protection Act, denial tot restriction on natural resources to the depending people coupled with degradation/fragmentation of habitat lead to conflict between interests. A questionnaire survey was conducted among the villagers ofthe selected settlements in Marayur Forest Range for information on matters related to socio-economic status and wildlife conservation. About 10% ofthe households in each settlement were selected randomly. Most of the people (77.78%) have their own lands and the major source of income is cultivation. According to the respondents paddy, sugar cane, plantain and vegetables were the highly raided crops by wild animals. Gaur, Wlephant and Wild boar were held responsible by the respondents for most of the damages to crops. Gaurding combined with ordinary fencing was the protection method employed by majority of the cultivators in Marayur. The reasons for crop damage and compensation details were discussed.