Livestock vaccination programme participation among smallholder farmers on the outskirts of National Parks and Tiger Reserves in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Assam.

Effective livestock vaccination has the potential to raise prosperity and food security for the rural poor in low and middle income countries. To understand factors affecting access to vaccination services, and guide future policy, smallholder farmers in three locations in India were questioned about vaccination of their cattle and buffalo, with particular reference to foot and mouth disease (FMD), haemorrhagic septicaemia (HS) and blackquarter (BQ). In the three regions 51%, 50%, and 31% of respondents reported vaccinating their livestock; well below any threshold for effective population level disease control.

Correction: Delivery and evaluation of participatory education for animal keepers led by veterinarians and para-veterinarians around the Kanha Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, India.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Delivery and evaluation of participatory education for animal keepers led by veterinarians and para-veterinarians around the Kanha Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, India.

Aim: We aim to investigate local perceptions of animal health challenges; current animal health knowledge; and methods to provide effective, relevant education to animal keepers in the Kanha Tiger Reserve area.

Materials And Methods: A farmer education programme was undertaken in the Kanha Tiger Reserve area. Local animal health priorities were investigated through participatory village meetings (n = 38), individual animal keeper questionnaires (n = 100) and a written survey of local paravets (n = 16).

Characteristics of human - sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) encounters and the resulting human casualties in the Kanha-Pench corridor, Madhya Pradesh, India.

Sloth bears (Melursus ursinus) caused the highest number of human deaths between 2001 and 2015 and ranked second compared to other wild animals in causing human casualties in the Kanha-Pench corridor area. We studied the patterns of sloth bear attacks in the region to understand the reasons for conflict. We interviewed 166 victims of sloth bear attacks which occurred between 2004 and 2016 and found that most attacks occurred in forests (81%), with the greatest number of those (42%) occurring during the collection of Non-Timber Forest Produce (NTFP), 15% during the collection of fuelwood and 13% during grazing of livestock.