wild animal attacks

– Throughout its history, human beings have used animals in different ways, evidencing their
importance and reflected in attitudes of respect, admiration and affection. However, some attitudes related to the domain, the
exploitation, fear and aversion towards wild animals have generated conflicts between human populations and life
wild. This conflict is a widespread conservation issue, but studies on the subject are scarce when considering
deals with semi-arid environments such as the Caatinga. Therefore, the present research aimed to document the activities of
hunting aimed at the control of animals considered dangerous and/or causing damage to the community of a
semiarid area in the interior of Paraíba, Northeast region of Brazil. The research was carried out with 123 hunters and excavators in the municipality of Pocinhos, from 2007 to 2010, through interviews with semi-structured questionnaires,
complemented with informal conversations. A total of 23 species of wild animals are slaughtered and the main groups
involved were mammals (especially carnivores) (n = 7 species), reptiles (especially snakes) (n = 13) and, in
smaller scale, birds. The reasons that generate conflicts and lead to the slaughter of wild animals are: attack on livestock
households, risk of death to people, destruction of crops and risk of disease transmission. Despite being little
damage caused by wild animals generates widespread intolerance among local hunters, encouraging
indiscriminate killing of these animals. That is why environmental education programs between the
population aiming at the maintenance of local faunal resources.