Perception and Attitudes of Local Communities Towards Wild
Elephant-related Problems and Conservation in Xishuangbanna, Southwestern China

Key words: 
•  human-elephant conflict (HEC) /
• local community /
• participatory rural appraisal (PRA) /
• Xishuangbanna

Abstract: The problem of wild elephants, or human-elephant conflict (HEC), influences the daily life of local communities and hinders the
conservation of wild elephants. The perception and attitudes of local communities who inhabited the frontiers between human activities
and wild elephant movement are important to the mitigation of the HEC and conservation of wild elephants. To analyze the perception
and attitudes of local communities, the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) was used in the investigation of 423 interviewees from 22
villages in Xishuangbanna from July 2009 to February 2010. The results indicated that local communities had their views on the elephant-
related problems. In field survey, we found that 66.5% of interviewees were willing to support, participate in, and assist in the
conservation of wild elephants; 33.5% of interviewees were opposed or indifferent to such conservation, because their livelihoods and
even their lives were endangered by wild elephants. These views and attitudes were influenced by local communities′ perception of HEC,
education level, gender and self-interest. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the diverse views among local communities and balance
profits and costs in addressing HEC.