African wolf diet, predation on livestock and conflict in the Guassa mountains of Ethiopia

Abstract

The African wolf (Canis lupus lupaster) was first identified in 2011 in the Ethiopian highlands, with its status as a new species confirmed in 2015. We studied the diet of a confirmed African wolf population in the Menz‐Guassa Community Conservation Area of central Ethiopia from scat samples collected by den sites from August to November 2010. Rodents were found to be the principal food items occurring in 88.1% of scats (n = 101), followed by plant material (34.7%) and insects (21.8%). Information on reported livestock predation and ensuing conflict with the agro‐pastoral community was obtained through a questionnaire survey. Interview respondents listed the African wolf as the most serious predator of livestock, accounting for 74.6% of the reported kills (n = 492) and 78.9% of the economic loss. Over 70% of reported livestock predation occurred during the dry season (January–April). Better livestock management during this period may significantly reduce conflict. As sympatric Ethiopian wolves primarily feed on rodents, further studies on the foraging ecology, niche overlap and interspecific interactions between the two species should be studied to determine the extent of competition between the two species.

Understanding Human–Canid Conflict and Coexistence: Socioeconomic Correlates Underlying Local Attitude and Support Toward the Endangered Dhole (Cuon alpinus) in Bhutan

“…Similarly, locals in the neighboring Indian Arunachal Pradesh supported reducing dholes because of livestock loss (Lyngdoh et al, 2014). As observed in our study, human intolerance and opposition to canid conservation due to socioeconomic loss from livestock predation has been established elsewhere: the Indian gray wolf in the Hindu Kush region (Din et al, 2013;Khan et al, 2019) and Pamir Mountains (Din et al, 2017) of Pakistan; Himalayan wolf in Nepal (Kusi et al, 2020); endangered Ethiopian wolf (Canis simensis) in south Wollo, Ethiopia (Eshete et al, 2018); gray wolf in the Carpathian Mountains, Slovakia (Rigg et al, 2011); African wolf (Canis lupaster) in Guassa Highlands, Ethiopia (Atickem et al, 2017); African wild dog in Kenya (Woodroffe et al, 2005); and chilla (Lycalopex griseus) in Chile (Silva-Rodriguez et al, 2009).…”

Ethiopian wolves conflict with pastoralists in small Afroalpine relicts

“…People in Aboi Gara reported similar numbers of loses due to wolves and jackals, whereas in some other Afroalpine areas, golden jackals have being considered the main predator of livestock (Ashenafi et al., ; Atickem et al., ; Marino et al., ). People also recognized specific predatory behaviours: jackals killed at day and night in agricultural fields around homesteads and Afroalpine habitats, whereas Ethiopian wolf attacks were mostly diurnal and limited to Afroalpine areas.…”

Competition between sympatric wolf taxa: an example involving African and Ethiopian wolves

“…Transects were spaced at intervals of 1 km ( figure 2 ). Since a previous study on the AW diet at Guassa was only based on a three-month study of scats ( n = 101; [ 10 ]), we collected 175 scats during the wet season (June–November) of 2015 and 175 scats during the dry season (December–May) of 2015–2016. The scats were dried and broken into pieces, and prey remains were identified via comparison with reference samples [ 6 ].…”

“…The African wolf (AW), which was until recently incorrectly regarded as a golden jackal ( C. aureus ) [ 8 ], is distributed in northern and eastern Africa [ 9 ]. As an ecological specialist and solitary forager with a small population size [ 6 ], the EW may be particularly sensitive to the impacts of interference competition from the AW, especially in light of recent preliminary evidence of partial dietary overlap between the two species [ 10 ]. Here, we aim to assess dietary overlap, habitat quality and whether interference competition occurs between EWs and AWs in north central Ethiopia.…”