Beyond the numbers: Human attitudes and conflict with lions (Panthera leo) in and around Gambella National Park, Ethiopia

Abstract

Human-lion conflict is one of the leading threats to lion populations and while livestock loss is a source of conflict, the degree to which livestock depredation is tolerated by people varies between regions and across cultures. Knowledge of local attitudes towards lions and identification of drivers of human-lion conflict can help formulate mitigation measures aimed at promoting coexistence of humans with lions. We assessed locals’ attitudes towards lions in and around Gambella National Park and compared the findings with published data from Kafa Biosphere Reserve, both in western Ethiopia. We used household interviews to quantify livestock loss. We found that depredation was relatively low and that disease and theft were the top factors of livestock loss. Remarkably, however, tolerance of lions was lower around Gambella National Park than in Kafa Biosphere Reserve. Multivariate analysis revealed that education level, number of livestock per household, livestock loss due to depredation, and livestock loss due to theft were strong predictors of locals’ attitude towards lion population growth and conservation. We show that the amount of livestock depredation alone is not sufficient to understand human-lion conflicts and we highlight the importance of accounting for cultural differences in lion conservation. The low cultural value of lions in the Gambella region corroborate the findings of our study. In combination with growing human population and land-use change pressures, low cultural value poses serious challenges to long-term lion conservation in the Gambella region. We recommend using Arnstein’s ladder of participation in conservation education programs to move towards proactive involvement of locals in conservation.

Socioeconomic Factors Influencing Local Community Perceptions Towards Lion Conservation: A Case of the Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania

“…The constant conflict between livestock herders and wild predators tends to be aggravated when depredation occurs. Similar studies have documented that pastoralists are very supportive of the idea of lion extirpation irrespective of other factors such as theft, drought, and diseases, which substantially drive down their stocks (Gebresenbet et al, 2018; Nyahongo and Røskaft, 2011b). In the same situation, livestock depredation in the eastern Serengeti leads to negative attitudes and fosters lion retaliatory killings among the Maasai and Sonjo tribes (Mbise et al, 2018).…”

“…Our findings are supported by other studies, for example, Mbise et al (2018) reported that Maasai owning large herds of cattle were highly negative towards carnivores, unlike the Sonjo communities who are agropastoralists living in the eastern Serengeti. Also, an increase in livestock population raised community aspirations to see the local extinction of lions in Gambella National Park, Ethiopia (Gebresenbet et al, 2018). Through KIIs, it was revealed that Liwale District Council is overwhelmed with the influx of livestock through immigration of pastoralists with a large number of herds.…”

Human dimensions of human–lion conflict: a pre- and post-assessment of a lion conservation programme in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

“…CP respondents had more negative perceptions of wildlife, conservation and HWIs than VC respondents. CP residents typically have fewer resources, less access to education (Lagendijk & Gusset 2008, Gebresenbet et al 2018, live more remotely, own more livestock and are more likely to have negative interactions with carnivores, contributing to negative attitudes (Zimmerman et al 2005). Even though respondents generally had low tolerance of carnivores, only 6% or less reported using lethal control to manage HWIs, which is lower than another study in Botswana, where c. 12% had attempted to kill a lion (Hemson et al 2009).…”

Paradox of Success-Mediated Conflicts: Analysing Attitudes of Local Communities Towards Successfully Reintroduced Tigers in India

“…Studies have related attitude and the resulting tolerance of people towards large carnivores to a myriad of reasons. The reasons vary from socio-economic factors like age, gender, education level, occupation, community, household wealth, dependence on livestock for livelihood, number of livestock owned, livestock loss due to depredation/magnitude of loss, change in traditional practises, and the severity of effect that loss has on livelihood (Marchini and Macdonald, 2012;Kansky et al, 2014Kansky et al, , 2016Gebresenbet et al, 2018;Margulies and Karanth, 2018), to psychosocial factors like traditional or religious beliefs, inherent/cultural value, social trust and norms, fear, risk perception, past experiences, and hazard acceptance/acceptance capacity (Carter et al, 2012;Marchini and Macdonald, 2012;Banerjee et al, 2013;Bruskotter and Wilson, 2014;Browne-Nuñez et al, 2015;Gebresenbet et al, 2018;Struebig et al, 2018). The protection status of carnivores, protected area management strategies, relationship or trust towards forest management/authorities or government agencies, and compensation to mitigate loss or other monetary incentives, also influences people's opinions about carnivores (Mishra et al, 2003;Karlsson and Sjöström, 2011;Banerjee et al, 2013;Browne-Nuñez et al, 2015;Margulies and Karanth, 2018;Struebig et al, 2018).…”