Prevalence of crop damage and crop-raiding animals in southern Ethiopia: the resolution of the conflict with the farmers
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Prevalence of crop damage and crop-raiding animals in southern Ethiopia: the resolution of the conflict with the farmers Nigatu Alemayehu . Wondimagegnehu Tekalign
Ó Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract The conflict between humans and wildlife often arises from crop raiding and has a significant impact on both subsistence humans’ livelihoods and long-term wildlife survival in developing countries. The study aimed to identify crop-raiding wild animals, the prevalence of crop damage, and the conflict resolution mechanism. Data were collected by questionnaire, interview, and direct field observation to estimate the extent of the crop loss and species of an animal involved in crop-raiding. The findings identified Anubis Baboon (Papio anubis), Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus), and Grivet Monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops) as the major crop pests, followed by Porcupines (Hystrix cristata), Birds and Mongoose (Helogale hirtula). Foraging typically Maize (Zea may) followed by Teff (Eragrostis tef), Enset (Ensete ventricosum), and Barley (Hordeum vulgare). Deforestation, illegal agricultural activities, and farmland distance to the forest were identified as causes of the conflict. In addition, scarecrow, chasing, and permanent guardians have been identified as traditional crop damage prevention techniques of the local people of the area. Therefore, to alleviate the existing impact of crop damage or loss by crop-pest or crop-raiding animals in the area adopting various most
N. Alemayehu W. Tekalign (&) Department of Biology, Wolaita Sodo University, PO Box 138, Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia e-mail: [email protected]
suitable approaches along with the awareness and involvement of local farmers would be a critical step. Keywords Conflict resolution Crop raiders Extent of crop damage Guarding Pest primates
Introduction The extent of conflicts between humans and wildlife has increased due to the growth of the human population and pressure on cultivated land (Parker et al. 2007). Currently, it is becoming a global problem, and occurring in many countries where human and wildlife requirements overlap (Hoffman and O’Riain 2012). The conflicts can be caused by livestock predation and human injury or attack by carnivores, crop raiding, resource competition, zoonotic disease transmission, carcass poisoning, and retaliation killing (Madden 2008). Wallace and Hill (2012) explained that human– wildlife conflict frequently arises from crop-raiding. Crop-raiding or crop-foraging is about animals securing food and people losing crops from animals’ foraging activities or trampling them, and the animals engaging in these activities are frequently considered crop-raiders (Hill 2018). Crop-raiding by wildlife close to an area of protected area is a severe problem that can possibly challenge conservation efforts
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(Bayani et al. 2016). According to Sitati et al. (2003), rodents, insects, birds, and antelopes are the common animals affecting cash crops and agricu
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