Use of an action-selection framework for human-carnivore conflict in the Bangladesh Sundarbans

Barlow and colleagues applied a structured action-selection framework to prioritise interventions for reducing human-tiger conflict in the Bangladesh Sundarbans, where tigers kill people and straying tigers enter villages. They evaluated candidate measures, including Village Tiger Response Teams, fencing, and outreach, against feasibility, cost, and likely effect, arguing for evidence-based triage rather than ad hoc response. The framework helped channel limited resources toward measures most likely to save human and tiger lives, such as safely driving strayed tigers back to the forest instead of killing them. The study modelled how systematic decision tools can structure conflict management in complex, resource-poor settings.