Human–Wildlife Conflict in and around Sohagibarwa Wildlife Sanctuary: Spatial Patterns, Socio-Economic Impacts, GIS-Based Hotspot Assessment and Strategies for Sustainable Coexistence

Abstract

Sohagibarwa Wildlife Sanctuary (SWS) is a 428.2 km² Terai protected landscape in Maharajganj district, Uttar Pradesh, near the India–Nepal border and the Uttar Pradesh–Bihar interface. Its Sal-dominated forests, grasslands, wetlands, rivers and agricultural fringes support carnivores, ungulates, birds and reptiles, while the same mosaic creates repeated opportunities for human–wildlife encounters. This study develops a GIS-oriented framework for understanding spatial patterns, socio-economic impacts and management priorities. Documented leads include leopard entry into villages and agricultural fields, livestock depredation, nilgai and wild-boar crop damage, gaur/wild-buffalo attacks, crocodile movement toward human-use areas and wildlife mortality associated with snares or crowd responses. North Chowk, South Chowk, Madhwalia and Nichlaul recur as important conflict interfaces in the available evidence. A 2025 report also documented a tigress with two cubs near Sohagibarwa village and a goat kill; this is treated as tiger–livestock interaction rather than evidence of human attack. The paper proposes a verified incident geodatabase, range/beat mapping, severity-weighted hotspot analysis, seasonal modelling, household surveys, compensation assessment, early-warning systems, livestock protection, crop-loss mitigation and community participation. Because exact GPS incident data and official spatial layers were not supplied with the base manuscript, the GIS figures are explicitly schematic planning maps and are not presented as statistically calculated hotspot surfaces. The study therefore separates documented evidence from hypotheses and provides a publication-ready framework for a future empirical Human–Wildlife Conflict Atlas integrating socio-economic development with biodiversity conservation.