Conflicts between large carnivores and human communities drive retaliatory killings and habitat loss. Coexistence approaches can protect both human livelihoods and carnivore populations.
Human-carnivore conflict generates both human suffering from livestock losses and animal welfare crises from retaliatory killing, snaring, and poisoning. Carnivores killed in conflict traps and snares often suffer prolonged, painful deaths. Poisoned carcasses create cascading mortality among scavengers and other non-target species. Coexistence approaches that reduce the economic impact of predation on communities address the root cause of conflict rather than its symptoms. When communities benefit economically from carnivore presence through ecotourism and coexistence programs, incentives shift from killing to protection.