Mitigating human-wildlife conflicts through wildlife fencing: A Kenyan case study (original) (raw)
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Research on humanities and social sciences, 2018
Human-wildlife conflicts (HWC) are a common phenomenon worldwide, particularly in areas where humans and wild animal's requirements overlap. This stud y focused on strategies used by the local communities in the management of HWC in Kieni West S ub-Count y, Kenya. In order to accomplish this stud y, the stud y objective was: To assess the mitigation strategies employed by the local community to reduce human-wildlife conflicts. The rationale for the stud y was informed by the fact that human-wildlife conflicts have been common in Kieni West Sub-County causing negative social, economic and environmental impacts. This stud y used a descriptive survey design. Three locations were purposively selected for the stud y. The y included Amboni, Bondeni and Njeng'u. The target population of the study was 2340 households drawn from the three locations. Data was collected using questionnaires, interview schedules for key informants, participant observations and focus group discussions. These instruments were piloted for reliability and validity. Collected data was later analyzed with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Scientist (SPSS). Chi-squared test was used to compare different variables while Spearman rank correlation coefficient was used to establish the relationship between variables. Information given by key informants and opinions by local leaders was analyzed thematically. The data was presented in frequency tables, figures, percentages and texts in a descriptive way. The finding of this stud y indicated that the local communities in the area used different management strategies to mitigate the human-wildlife conflicts. 16% of the local communities used lethal control, 42 % used deterrents, 46% used physical barriers, 22% used guard animals, 61% used human vigilance while 39% used deceptive planting. Observed differences were highly significant (X2=65.5, df=5, P≥0.001). The stud y concluded that different mitigation strategies worked differently to diverse wild animal species that were targeted as the y behaved and responded differently. The major recommendation was for the local community to come up with alternative and modern methods of mitigating human-wildlife conflicts in the area. Areas of further research were identified.
Human-Wildlife Conflicts: Causes and Mitigation Measures in Tsavo Conservation Area, Kenya
Conflicts between people and wildlife currently rank amongst the main threats to conservation in Africa. In Kenya, for instance, with much of the wildlife living outside protected areas, one of the real challenges to conservation is how to enhance and sustain co-existence between people and wild animals. It is undoubtedly evident that the expansion of the human society has forced people to infringe on wildlife habitats and convert land to other uses incompatible with wildlife. Human-wildlife conflicts negatively impact on the humans and wildlife alike. An understanding of how the people and conservation agents deal with the problem of wild animals is critical in evolving and establishing sustainable conservation systems. This article presents and analyses data from case studies of human-wildlife interactions in Tsavo Conservation Area (TCA) in Kenya. A survey was conducted among households sampled within and adjacent to the TCA. The study investigated the causes and mechanisms and strategies applied to mitigate and manage human-wildlife conflicts and provide long-term solution to the prevalent resource use conflicts around and within TCA. The findings suggest the need to address the issue of human-wildlife conflict in the context of sustainable conservation practice through a combination of indigenous and conventional rationales to demonstrate that wildlife can co-exist with people. Keywords: Protected area, compensation, problem animal, mitigation
Approaches to Managing Human-Wildlife Conflicts: The case of Tsavo Conservation Area in Kenya
Conflicts between people and wildlife currently rank amongst the main threats to conservation in Africa. In Kenya, for instance, with much of the wildlife living outside protected areas, one of the real challenges to conservation is how to enhance and sustain co-existence between people and wild animals. It is undoubtedly evident that the expansion of the human society has forced people to infringe on wildlife habitats and convert land to other uses incompatible with wildlife. Human-wildlife conflicts negatively impact on the humans and wildlife alike. An understanding of how the people and conservation agents deal with the problem of wild animals is critical in evolving and establishing sustainable conservation systems. This article presents and analyses data from case studies of human-wildlife interactions in Tsavo Conservation Area (TCA) in Kenya. A survey was conducted among households sampled within and adjacent to the TCA. The study investigated the mechanisms and strategies applied to mitigate and manage human-wildlife conflicts and provide long-term solution to the prevalent resource use conflicts around and within TCA. The findings suggest the need to address the issue of human-wildlife conflict in the context of sustainable conservation practice through a combination of indigenous and conventional rationales to demonstrate that wildlife can co-exist with people. Keywords: Conflict, protected area, conservation, prevention, mitigation
2018
Many strategies have been proposed and rolled out in an attempt to manage conflict between people and wildlife in different parts of the world. It remains to be seen how effective these strategies have been. Human-wildlife conflict in Kenya is an important factor affecting wildlife conservation on one hand and local people's livelihoods on the other. The study examined effectiveness of four methods used to manage human wildlife conflict at Kitengela wildlife dispersal area. The strategies examined included; use of livestock guarding dogs, complete fencing of Nairobi National Park, Fencing around homesteads and bomas, and compensating local community members who lose livestock to predation by wild animals. Data collection methods involved self administered questionnaire, interview and observation, and covered 105 local pastoralist community members, the Kenya Wildlife Service staff and a staff from The Wildlife Fund, a conservation NGO located within the park. Quantitative data w...
HUMAN WILDLIFE CONFLICTS IN KIRISIA FOREST, SAMBURU COUNTY, KENYA
Human Wildlife Conflicts in Kirisia forest Kenya, 2018
The broad objective of this study was to investigate human and wild animals’ interactions that perpetuate human- wildlife conflicts in western side of Kirisia forest and adjacent areas in the forest and suggest practical strategies of curbing and mitigating these conflicts. The study examined the type, nature and intensity of human-wildlife conflicts by identifying the resources that the local people seek in the forest areas and the damage caused by wild animals outside the forested areas and how they impart on the peoples’ livelihoods.
2021
Human wildlife conflict poses a great challenge to wildlife conservation and sources of income of people globally and is increasing as human migration from rural to urban areas increases, global climate changes, development expands and other human and environmental factors put wildlife and people in greater direct competition for a shrinking resource base. The study was influenced by the fact that human wildlife conflict cases are rampant in the region and no action has been taken despite the knowledge of this. The study was based on stakeholders and social conflict theories. Descriptive survey research design was used where the target population comprised of 1200 households from 4 villages around Kithoka forest and 30 Kenya Wildlife Service officers at the Meru station. Stratified random rampling was used to select a sample size of 10% of the households heads in each village strata, while a census survey was adopted for the KWS officers making a total of 148 respondents. Questionnaires and interview guides were used to collect data. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as percentages, frequencies and means while data was presented using tables. Qualitative data generated from the interview guide was organized in themes and patterns, grouped through content analysis and then discussed. This study recommends that; The National government through the Ministries of Lands and Agriculture in conjunction with the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife should establish coherent policies that will protect the environment and suitable use of natural resources. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) should review its policy through enforcement of regulations and legislation on the safe distance that people should build their houses away from Kithoka forest for purposes of minimizing human wildlife conflict. This barricade bodies will help establish a human zone and wild zone and the KWS Meru station should consider reinforcing alarms on the fences to help in detection of any wild animals or people attempting illegal entry into the forest.
Characteristics of Human-Wildlife Conflicts in Kenya: Examples of Tsavo and Maasai Mara Regions
Environment and Natural Resources Research
Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) is a widespread and persistent challenge to conservation. However, relatively few studies have thus far examined long-term monitoring data to quantify how the type, and severity of HWC varies across species, seasons, years and ecosystems. Here, we examine human-wildlife conflicts in Tsavo and Maasai Mara, two premier wildlife conservation areas in Kenya. Using Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) data (2001-2016), we show that both the type and severity of conflicts vary among species such that the African elephant (Loxodonta africana), is the leading conflict species in both the Tsavo (64.3%, n= 30664) and Mara (47.0%, n=12487) ecosystems. The next four most notorious conflict animals, in decreasing order, are nonhuman primates (Tsavo 11.4%, n=3502; Mara 11.8%, n=1473), African buffalo (Syncerus caffer, Tsavo 5.5%, n=1676; Mara 11.3%, n=1410), lion (Panthera leo,Tsavo 3.6%, n=1107; Mara 3.3%, n=416) and spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta, Tsavo 2.4%, n=744; Mara 5...
2018
That inter-community conflicts have profound impacts on wildlife conservation cannot be underrated. A study to assess impacts of inter-community conflicts (ICCs) on wildlife conservation was conducted in Samburu National Reserve (SNR) and its environs between December 2014 and May 2015. The study targeted local communities living around the Reserve, SNR personnel and staff from conservation organizations like Save The Elephant (STE) and Ewaso Lions (EL). Data was collected from randomly selected local community respondents using structured questionnaires, discussion and informal consultations, while interviews were held with staff purposively selected from SNR and targeted conservation organizations. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and chi-square goodness of fit test. Results were presented using graphs and tables. Results indicated that there was a significant difference between types of inter-community conflicts experienced due to competition over natural reso...