Human wildlife conflict (HWC) is progressively becoming a global phenomenon that threatens the welfare of both people and wildlife.  The problem is particularly acute in tropical, developing countries where increasing human population levels have led to the destruction and encroachment of forest lands and reduction of wildlife habitat. In India, human primate conflicts (HPC) exemplify the complexity inherent in HWC, the challenges involved in implementing mitigation strategies and why this is a serious concern for wildlife conservation. This talk will explore different kinds of HPC in India, their unique dynamics, the change in HPC patterns over time, and why these different aspects compel us to think differently about HWC and wildlife conservation.

Sindhu Radhakrishna is Professor and Head of the Animal Behaviour and Cognition Programme at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru, India. She is an ethologist and primatologist whose research focuses on primate social behaviour and cognition, human animal relations, animal decision making and human environment interactions. She is broadly interested in understanding how interactions between humans, animals and the environment influence human and animal ecologies and cultures and explores these questions using primates as animal models.

Professor Radhakrishna holds a master’s degree in psychology from Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, and a PhD in Animal Behaviour from Mysore University, Karnataka. She is the recipient of research grants and honours, including the INSA Young Scientist Award (2004), the Nehru Fulbright Fellowship (2013), and the DST SERB Women Excellence Award (2014).