Pengetahuan dan Persepsi Masyarakat Terhadap Konflik Gajah Sumatera di Desa Lubuk Mandarsah: (Knowledge and Public Perception of Sumatran Elephant Conflict in Lubuk Mandarsah Village)

The condition of the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, which is directly adjacent to agricultural land and residential areas of the Lubuk Mandarsah Village community as well as the existence of a concession permit causes a high potential for conflict between Sumatran elephants and the community. The decline in biodiversity due to overexploitation of natural resources, the conversion of company land around the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park has a negative impact on the conservation of Sumatran elephants and the survival of the people living around the buffer area of ​​the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park. With this problem, it will certainly cause conflict between humans and Sumatran elephants. The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge and perceptions of the community towards conflicts with Sumatran elephants. This research is research using mixed method or mix method, which combines qualitative and quantitative methods. Based on this research, it was found that the level of community knowledge in the hamlet of Lubuk Mandarsah Village regarding Sumatran Elephants was classified as high (39-48) with a percentage of 82% and the perception of people in Lubuk Mandarsah Village regarding Sumatran elephants was classified as bad with a percentage of 78%. Key words: knowledge, perception, public, Sumatran Elephant Abstrak. Kondisi Taman Nasionnal Bukit Tigapuluh yang berbatasan langsung dengan lahan pertanian dan pemukiman masyarakat Desa Lubuk Mandarsah serta adanya perizinan konsesi menyebabkan tingginya potensi konflik gajah sumatera dengan masyarakat. Penurunan keanekaragaman hayati akibat eksploitasi sumber daya alam yang berlebihan, konversi lahan perusahaan sekitar Taman Nasional Bukit Tigapuluh menimbulkan dampak negatif terhadap konservasi gajah sumatera dan keberlangsungan hidup masyarakat yang hidup disekitar daerah penyangga Taman Nasional Bukit Tigapuluh. Dengan adanya permaslaahan ini tentu akan menimbulkan konflik antara manusia dan gajah sumatera. Adapun tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah mengetahui pengetahuan dan persepsi dari masyarakat terhadap konflik dengan gajah sumatera. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian menggunakan metode campuran atan mix method dimana mengkombinasikan metode Kualitatif dan kuantitatif. Berdasarkan penelitian ini dihasilkan bahwa Tingkat Pengetahuan Masyarakat di dusun Desa Lubuk Mandarsah terkait Gajah Sumatera sudah tergolong Tinggi (39-48) dengan persentase sebesar 82 % dan persepsi masyarakat di Desa Lubuk Mandarsah terkait gajah sumatera masik tergolong tidak baik dengan persentase 78%. Kata kunci: Pengetahuan, Persepsi, Masyarakat, Gajah Sumater