Impact of human – monkey conflict in Ampara district

Abstract

Primates and humans often come into conflict with each other, especially when it comes to food. Crop raiding by primates is a major problem, causing significant damage to crops and leading to the death of the primates themselves. To assess the impacts of human-monkey conflicts on local communities and monkey populations in the Ampara District. This study was conducted in six villages including Ampara, Damana, Lahugala, Pothuvil, Uhana, and Mahaoya in the Ampara district of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. The data was collected from 120 respondents in total from the six villages. The data was gathered using a face-to-face interview approach with a pretested questionnaire. Monkeys caused significant damage to crops in the study area, affecting a total of 20 different crop species. The Toque macaque (Macaca sinica) and tufted grey langur (Semnopithecus priam) species had the highest impact on crop damage. Cash crops and fruits were particularly vulnerable to monkey damage. Although most damage occurred during the fruiting season, monkeys damaged crops throughout the year. Local deterrent methods were reported to be effective by 59.9% of the respondents. However, these methods negatively impacted the education, health, and economy of the respondents' children. According to my findings, the increase in monkey population, people planting them in forest clearings, the proximity of human villages to forests, and attacks on people by monkeys have contributed to the human monkey conflict in Ampara district. People living in villages with higher monkey populations and those whose farmlands were far from their homes reported greater crop damage. This highlights the urgent need to implement effective conservation measures to mitigate this conflict.