Human-Wildlife Conflict and Traditional Ecological Knowledge-Based Mitigation in the Gaurishankar Conservation Area, Nepal

<jats:p>Existing human-wildlife conflict (HWC) research across the Himalaya is largely focused on conflict occurrence, with limited attention to conflict severity and to how well Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) mitigates the conflict. We surveyed 250 households in the Gaurishankar Conservation Area (GCA), Nepal, supplemented by focus group discussions, to understand HWC patterns, build a composite Conflict Severity Index, and document TEK-based mitigation practices and their perceived effectiveness. Conflict was widespread, with 68.8% of households reporting losses. Rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) caused the most incidents (47.09%), mainly through crop raiding, while Common leopard (Panthera pardus) drove most livestock depredation. However, severity told a different story. Himalayan wolf (Canis lupus chanco) conflicts, though rare, caused the greatest socio-economic impact, exposing serious underreporting of high-severity events in official records. Of 14 documented TEK practices, 84.4% of households used at least one, yet effectiveness varied sharply. Stall feeding and predator-proof corrals worked well, while rituals did not. Labor shortages, shifting wildlife behavior, and outmigration weakened community-based mitigation measures, while Buddhist and Bon cultural values sustained tolerance despite persistent losses. HWC management in the Himalaya should weigh severity alongside frequency, strengthen community-level conflict reporting, integrate effective TEK practices into formal conservation planning, and account for the cultural values that sustain coexistence.</jats:p>