Development and Validation of Agricultural Human-Wildlife Conflict Tolerance Scale for Farming Households

Arjun Prasad  Verma; Bhanu Prakash  Mishra; Dheeraj Mishra; Avanish  Sharma; Rishabh Yadav; Divya Katiyar

doi:10.48165/IJEE.2026.623RT03

Authors

Arjun Prasad Verma Assistant Professor, Deptt. Of Agril. Ext., BUAT, Banda-210001 (U.P.), India
Bhanu Prakash Mishra Professor and Head, Department of Agricultural Extension, BUAT, Banda, Uttar Pradesh, India – 210001
Dheeraj Mishra Assistant Professor, Deptt. Of Agril. Ext., BUAT, Banda-210001 (U.P.), India
Avanish Sharma Assistant Professor, Department of Forest Biology and Tree Breeding, College of Forestry, Banda University of Agriculture and Technology, Banda-210001 (U.P.), India
Rishabh Yadav Ph.D. Scholar
Divya Katiyar Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Extension Education, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005 (U.P), India

https://doi.org/10.48165/IJEE.2026.623RT03

Keywords:

Agricultural Human–Wildlife Conflict, Tolerance Scale, Buffer Zone, Likert scale, Exploratory Factor Analysis

Abstract

Agriculture–Human–Wildlife Conflict (AHWC) poses a significant threat to the livelihoods of agricultural households in buffer zones of protected areas across India. Measuring farmers’ tolerance toward conflict is essential for designing effective conservation extension practices. The data was collected during March–April 2026 from 200 households residing in the buffer zone of Ranipur Tiger Reserve (RTR), Uttar Pradesh, to develop and validate the Wildlife Tolerance Scale for Buffer Zone Farmers. An initial pool of 50 items was generated and subjected to expert review by nine specialists using Content Validity Ratio (CVR). Items having CVR less than the threshold were removed, resulting in 43 items being tested on the final 200 households. After item-level reliability screening (corrected item–total correlation ≥0.30 and Cronbach’s alpha >0.7), 18 items were retained for the main study. Retained items were analysed through Exploratory Factor Analysis (Direct Oblimin rotation). This resulted in four factors i.e. Adaptive Coexistence Behaviour, Coexistence Acceptance, Conservation-Oriented Tolerance, and Damage and Adaptation Tolerance. Final 18 items have a high internal consistency (α = .836) and explain a total variance of 67.41%. The WTS-BZF will provide extension workers and conservation practitioners with a validated instrument for assessing and enhancing wildlife tolerance among farming communities.

Author Biographies

Arjun Prasad Verma, Assistant Professor, Deptt. Of Agril. Ext., BUAT, Banda-210001 (U.P.), India

Assistant Professor, Deptt. Of Agril. Ext., BUAT, Banda-210001 (U.P.), India
Bhanu Prakash Mishra, Professor and Head, Department of Agricultural Extension, BUAT, Banda, Uttar Pradesh, India – 210001

Professor and Head, Department of Agricultural Extension, BUAT, Banda, Uttar Pradesh, India – 210001
Dheeraj Mishra, Assistant Professor, Deptt. Of Agril. Ext., BUAT, Banda-210001 (U.P.), India

Assistant Professor, Deptt. Of Agril. Ext., BUAT, Banda-210001 (U.P.), India
Avanish Sharma, Assistant Professor, Department of Forest Biology and Tree Breeding, College of Forestry, Banda University of Agriculture and Technology, Banda-210001 (U.P.), India

Assistant Professor, Department of Forest Biology and Tree Breeding, College of Forestry, Banda University of Agriculture and Technology, Banda-210001 (U.P.), India
Divya Katiyar, Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Extension Education, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005 (U.P), India

Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Extension Education, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221005 (U.P), India

References

1. Agnihotri, S., Madegowda, C., & Si, A. (2021). Tiger becomes termite hill: Soliga/Solega perceptions of wildlife interactions and ecological change. Frontiers in Conservation Science, 2, 691900. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcosc.2021.691900

2. Barua, M., Bhagwat, S. A., & Jadhav, S. (2013). The hidden dimensions of human–wildlife conflict: Health impacts, opportunity and transaction costs. Biological Conservation, 157, 309–316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2012.07.014

3. Denryter, K., & Heeren, A. (2021). Thematic and hotspot analysis of human-elk conflicts statewide in California. California Fish and Wildlife Journal, 107, 186-201.

4. Harris, R. B., Aluzas, K., Balyx, L., Belt, J., Berger, J., Biel, M., ... & Wolf, L. (2023). Habituated, tolerant, or salt-conditioned mountain goats and human safety. Human-Wildlife Interactions, 17(1), 99-122.https://www.jstor.org/stable/27316541

5. Hobson, K. J., Stringer, A., Gill, R., MacPherson, J., & Lambin, X. (2024). Interests, beliefs, experience and perceptions shape tolerance towards impacts of recovering predators. People and Nature, 6(1), 117-133. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10560Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

6. Iqbal, T., Slathia, P. S., Peshin, R., Sehgal, S., Sharma, M. K., Kour, K., & Kumar, R. (2021). Perception towards joint forest management programme in conservation of forest resources in Jammu Division. Indian Journal of Extension Education, 57(1), 67-72. https://doi.org/10.48165/

7. Islam, M. R., & Mehdi, A. A. (2024). Bridging climate awareness and sustainable entrepreneurship: A conceptual framework based on the theory of planned behavior. arXiv preprint arXiv:2407.16838. https://doi.org/10.56472/25835238/IRJEMS-V3I7P129

8. Jahangiry, L., Babaei, J., Baghaeian, M., RashidiBirgani, H., & Gilani, N. (2025). Psychometric properties of the earthquake knowledge questionnaire: Development for the Persian population. Plos One, 20(10), e0331764. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0331764

9. Jhala, Y., Gopal, R., Mathur, V., Ghosh, P., Negi, H. S., Narain, S., ... & Qureshi, Q. (2021). Recovery of tigers in India: Critical introspection and potential lessons. People and Nature, 3(2), 281-293. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10177

10. Junca Paredes, J. J., Florez, J. F., Enciso Valencia, K. J., Hernández Mahecha, L. M., Triana Ángel, N., & Burkart, S. (2023). Potential forage hybrid markets for enhancing sustainability and food security in East Africa. Foods, 12(8), 1607. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods12081607

11. Kademani Sujay, Nain M.S. , Singh R., Roy S.K., Prabhakar I., Ranjan A., Karjigi D.K., Patil M., Das D., & Wasaful Q. Sk.(2025). Quantifying support for agripreneurs: a multidimensional scale development and analysis of institutional mechanisms, Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research (2025) 15:12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40497-025-00429-4

12. Kalkbrenner, M. T. (2021). A Practical guide to instrument development and score validation in the social sciences: The MEASURE approach. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 26, 1. https://doi.org/10.7275/svg4-e671

13. Kansky, R., Kidd, M., & Knight, A. T. (2016). A wildlife tolerance model and case study for understanding human wildlife conflicts. Biological Conservation, 201, 137–145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.07.002

14. Kortetmäki, T., Boon, A. D., Paloviita, A., Herman, A., Niemi, T., & Tribaldos, T. (2025). Just agrifood transitions: a cross-country comparison of stakeholder perceptions between Finland and England. Agriculture and Human Values, 42(4), 3061-3079. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-025-10801-5

15. Lawshe, C. H. (1975). A quantitative approach to content validity. Personnel Psychology, 28(4), 563–575. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1975.tb01393.x

16. Maurya, N., Mishra, D., Mishra, B. P., Rai, R. K., Ojha, P. K., Verma, A. P., ... & Pathak, D. K. (2024). Construction of knowledge test to measure the knowledge level of the millet farmers of Bundelkhand Region, Uttar Pradesh, India. Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology, 42(10), 163-173.

17. Meena, D. C., Meena, B. S., Garai, S., Meena, H. R., Sankhala, G., & Chadda, A. (2022). Crop and livestock depredation by wild animals: The case of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, India. Indian Journal of Extension Education, 58(4), 38-41. https://doi.org/10.48165/

18. Patra, N. K., Jamir, L. A., & Pathak, T. B. (2026). Comprehensive tool for assessing farmers’ knowledge and perception of climate change and sustainable adaptation: Evidence from himalayan mountain region. Climate, 14(1), 20. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli14010020

19. Prabex, S., Rahman, S., Verma, H., & Saran, V. (2025). Development of a standardised scale to measure farmers’ attitude towards indigenous cattle conservation: A methodological approach. Indian Journal of Extension Education, 61(3), 92-96.

20. Sasikumar, H., Meena, H. R., Vijayakrishnan, S., Maiti, S., & Meena, B. S. (2026). Ecology–economy interface: Understanding protected area awareness among forest-fringe dairy farming communities in Kerala. Indian Journal of Extension Education, 62(1), 8-14. https://doi.org/10.48165/IJEE.2026.62102

21. Slagle, K., Zajac, R., Bruskotter, J., Wilson, R., & Prange, S. (2013). Building tolerance for bears: A communications experiment. Journal of Wildlife Management, 77(4), 863–869. https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.515

22. Subedi, P., Joshi, R., Poudel, B., & Lamichhane, S. (2020). Status of human-wildlife conflict and assessment of crop damage by wild animals in buffer zone area of Banke National Park, Nepal. Asian Journal of Conservation Biology, 9(2), 196-206.

23. Velamuri, A., Hebsale Mallappa, V. K., & Parikh, N. (2024). Construction and validation of research satisfaction scale (RSS) for post-research analysis of graduates. Indian Journal of Extension Education, 60(1), 120-123.

24. Warrier, R. (2019). Conserving tigers beyond protected area boundaries: the spatial ecology of tigers and their prey in farmlands in north India (Doctoral dissertation, PhD Thesis, Colorado State University).

25. Yeshey, Ford, R. M., Keenan, R. J., & Nitschke, C. R. (2024). Religious beliefs and wildlife value orientations influence tolerance of wildlife impacts in Bhutan. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 29(3), 300-318. https://doi.org/10.1080/10871209.2023.2234389