Research overview: social feasibility and conflict after reintroduction

Reintroducing big cats is as much a social undertaking as a biological one, since restored predators can prey on livestock and provoke fear, and local opposition can doom a project regardless of its ecological merits. This overview surveys research on the social dimensions of carnivore reintroduction, including assessing community attitudes before release, engaging stakeholders, and managing the conflict that often follows. Studies examine how perceived risks, past experience, and the distribution of costs and benefits shape acceptance, and how conflict-mitigation measures and benefit-sharing influence tolerance over time. Researchers stress that social feasibility assessment should precede reintroduction and that ignoring it has derailed otherwise sound efforts. The overview frames human dimensions as a decisive factor in whether reintroduced big cats persist, arguing that durable restoration requires winning and maintaining the support of the people who must live alongside the returning predators. It matters because biological success means little without social acceptance.