Human-Carnivore Coexistence in the Tarangire Ecosystem

Kissui, Bernard M.; Kisimir, Elvis L.; Lichtenfeld, Laly L.; Naro, Elizabeth M.; Montgomery, Robert A.; Kiffner, Christian

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-93604-4_14

Cited by 4 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…Without viable reproducing populations in the unprotected livestock rangelands which separate protected areas, park populations are vulnerable to stochastic events such as disease outbreaks, political unrest, and invasion by herders, who kill predators in the wake of livestock predation. As predators declined, traditional herding practices relaxed, e.g., assigning children rather than young men as herders (Hazzah et al, 2009;Kissui et al, 2022) and construction of less secure bomas, which left livestock more vulnerable to remaining carnivores and thus to more retaliatory killing.…”

Section: Introduction History Of Recent Lion Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Twenty years of lion conservation in a commercial rangeland

Frank

2023

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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Lion populations in Africa declined precipitously in the twentieth century outside of protected areas but the commercial cattle ranches of Laikipia County, Kenya, have been a unique exception, with low livestock stocking rates, careful range management, large populations of wild ungulates, and a full complement of large carnivores, including lions at a stable density of about 6/100 km2. The Laikipia Predator Project, later Living With Lions, started in 1997 with two primary objectives: improving livestock husbandry to reduce lion predation losses and subsequent killing of lions, and studying behavioral adaptations of lions to human activities and persecution. We initially interviewed ranch owners and managers on lion numbers, losses to all mortality factors, husbandry methods, costs, and lion control measures. Studies of husbandry and control methods led to improved livestock management, which gradually reduced losses and retaliatory lion killing. Persecuted lions are secretive and nocturnal, so behavioral research was dependent upon radio collaring, requiring development an effective capture technique. Collars introduced ranchers to their lions as individuals, decreasing their propensity to shoot them after livestock predation. The most important breakthrough was the development of “lion-proof” mobile bomas (corrals) which dramatically reduced night time losses and retaliatory killing. Global positioning system (GPS)-Iridium collars for research into lion movements, allowed development of a Lion Early Warning System to inform ranchers of morning lion locations, allowing them to avoid lions during day time grazing. These measures reduced retaliatory lion killing by 90% between 1998 and 2017. Development of simple and inexpensive hyena-proof bomas for traditional pastoralists dramatically reduced their losses and motivation to poison predators. Studies of lion movements and ecological energetics in relation to human activities have revealed patterns of diel avoidance of humans/livestock by day and predation of wild prey near bomas at night, showing that lions partition their activities temporally in order to utilize high quality hunting habitat while minimizing risk of encountering humans. Studies of predation ecology suggest that lion predation does not have a significant impact on Laikipia’s important population of endangered Grevy’s zebra. Several other carnivore research and conservation projects in Kenya arose out of the initial work in Laikipia.

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Section: Introduction History Of Recent Lion Conservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Twenty years of lion conservation in a commercial rangeland

Frank

2023

Front. Ecol. Evol.

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“…12%), particularly when compared massive over-reporting (several orders of magnitude) in other livestock-carnivore systems (e.g. Kissui et al, 2022), these results underscore the importance of independent confirmation procedures to avoid fraudulent claims of livestock loss (Nyhus et al, 2003).…”

Section: Monitoring Data and Compensation For Livestock Lossesmentioning

confidence: 78%

Patterns of livestock loss associated with a recolonizing wolf population in Germany

Kiffner¹,

Uthes²,

Ostermann‐Miyashita³

et al. 2022

Front. Conserv. Sci.

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Predation on livestock presents a daunting challenge for human–carnivore coexistence in agricultural landscapes. In Germany, the recolonization of wolves is ongoing and its consequences are insufficiently understood. Knowledge about which livestock species are susceptible to wolf predation, which farm types are predisposed to attacks by wolves, and when predation on livestock occurs is valuable for mitigating stakeholder conflicts. To this end, we analyzed 14 years of monitoring data and assessed the livestock prey spectrum, identified correlates between predation on livestock, farm type and livestock category, and described temporal patterns of livestock loss caused by a recolonizing wolf population in the state of Brandenburg (Germany). Among a total of 1387 recorded cases, 42% were unequivocally attributed to wolves (SCALP criteria C1 and C2) and 12% of cases were not caused by wolves. The number of head of livestock killed during a single wolf attack was mediated by farm type and livestock species; losses per event were greater in full-time farms vs. other farm types and greater in sheep, farmed deer and other livestock species, compared to cattle. While sheep were the most commonly killed livestock species, the increase in wolf territories over the investigation period was associated with a widening of the domestic prey species spectrum. Count regression models provided evidence for the increasing frequency of predation events over the 14-year period, along with an exponential increase in wolf territories. Predation on livestock occurred throughout the year, yet seasonality of events was evident and differed across livestock categories. Predation on sheep peaked in the fall, coinciding with the post-weaning period of wolf offspring. Predation on cattle peaked in the spring, coinciding with the cattle calving period. These results call for renewed investment in the implementation of prevention methods for all susceptible domestic species, particularly during times of elevated predation risk.

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“…Of the four extant hyena species in the family Hyaenidae, only the striped and spotted hyena are found in the area. Little is known about the geographic distribution and behavior of the striped hyena [29,43], and some researchers have suggested that local pastoralists may not differentiate between striped and spotted hyenas (Fisi in kiSwahili; Olng'ojine in Maa) [82]. However, only one striped hyena was seen during the period of my field research-a carcass on the A104 highway adjacent to Manyara Ranch.…”

Section: Existing Literature On Hyena Dynamics In the Tarangire Ecosy...mentioning

confidence: 91%

“…However, the role of domestic livestock in supplementing carnivore diets has not been effectively quantified. This is especially significant for spotted hyenas, which kill more livestock than any other carnivore species in the Tarangire ecosystem by far, findings that have been replicated consistently across decades [29,32,85,86]. Studies of hyena diel activity patterns in Lake Manyara National Park reveal that they are almost entirely nocturnal [43].…”

Section: Existing Literature On Hyena Dynamics In the Tarangire Ecosy...mentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Protected areas also run the risk of marginalizing human dimensions of ecosystems by dispossessing or even physically displacing local human Conservation 2024, 4 100 communities [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Considering these shortcomings of protected areas, carnivore biologists have come to consider ecological connectivity and the coexistence of carnivores and people outside formal protected areas to be of crucial conservation importance [9,[27][28][29]. While there is considerable ecological research on carnivore dynamics on human-dominated landscapes, the human dimensions of coexistence including the social, cultural, political, and economic contexts that frame human-carnivore interactions are less studied, though a growing body of literature has begun to address these factors [9,30].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Human–Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) Conflict in the Tarangire Ecosystem, Tanzania

Raycraft

2024

Conservation

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Interactions between people and large carnivores on shared landscapes can have harmful social and ecological consequences. Human–carnivore coexistence depends on an assemblage of sociological factors including effective management institutions that address the social costs of carnivore conservation and promote tolerance toward wildlife. In East Africa, large carnivores are particularly troublesome for herders who depend on livestock for subsistence and wellbeing. This paper provides an overview of human–hyena conflict in the Tarangire ecosystem of northern Tanzania. It presents descriptive results from a questionnaire survey (n = 1076) administered as part of an anthropological study (2019–2020; 2022; 2023) of human–wildlife interactions across twelve villages inhabited by Maasai agropastoralists. The survey instrument was designed through community-based participatory research methods to convey herder concerns about the impacts of spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) on the livestock economy. Based on the perceptions and local ecological knowledge of Maasai interlocutors, the paper provides an overview of the spatial and temporal patterns of human–hyena interactions. Perceived frequencies of hyena attacks on kraaled livestock were unevenly distributed geographically, with those homesteads surrounding Manyara Ranch most heavily affected. Based on herder-reported livestock losses, the costs of depredation by spotted hyenas across the study area were estimated at approximately USD 904.84 per household per year. Most homesteads lacked fortified bomas and would benefit from the provision of lights and fencing materials to improve kraal structures. The paper’s central finding is that spotted hyenas represent a pressing, everyday concern for local pastoralists. Unsurprisingly, herders despise hyenas and are intolerant of sharing landscapes with them. For carnivore conservation outside protected areas to thrive in Tanzania, conservationists and policy makers must engage more meaningfully with the lived experiences of local herders who bear the brunt of conservation costs on their livelihoods.

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Human-Carnivore Coexistence in the Tarangire Ecosystem

Cited by 4 publications

References 78 publications

Twenty years of lion conservation in a commercial rangeland

Twenty years of lion conservation in a commercial rangeland

Patterns of livestock loss associated with a recolonizing wolf population in Germany

Human–Hyena (Crocuta crocuta) Conflict in the Tarangire Ecosystem, Tanzania

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