Spatial Patterns and Socio-Economic Drivers of Wildlife-Related Loss in South Africa’s Agricultural–Conservation Interface

Abstract

This study quantifies spatial patterns and socio-economic drivers of wildlife-related losses at the agricultural–conservation interface in north-eastern South Africa. Using structured interviews with 249 farmers across five localities (Limpopo, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal), 173 respondents reported wildlife incursions. Crop damage was dominated by primates vervet monkeys and chacma baboons while leopards were the principal game/livestock predator. Subsistence households bore the heaviest burden: they accounted for most crop-raiding reports. They faced heightened food-security risks, whereas commercial operations suffered larger monetary losses but had greater capacity to deploy deterrents. Irrigation was associated with increased conflict incidence, and electrified fencing reduced losses for some subsistence farms but was not uniformly effective in high-risk localities. Larger household size correlated with greater exposure to incursions than small households. We recommend targeted, locality-specific, multi-species mitigation: prioritise support and maintenance for effective deterrents in vulnerable communal areas, integrate community engagement and monitoring, and align conservation policy with livelihood resilience to reduce inequitable impacts.