Problematic of human-wildlife conflicts in Kongo central province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Africa)

Abstract

A study on the issue of Human-Wildlife Conflicts (HWC) was carried out from January 1, 2018 to June 30, 2020 in the province of Kongo Central. It consisted of: (1) Identifying the causes of Human-Wildlife Conflicts in the province, (2) Determining the social impacts generated by Human-Wildlife Conflicts and (3) Identifying the prevention and mitigation measures applied to resolve the problems of Human-Wildlife Conflicts in the province. Semi-structured surveys were carried out on the basis of an interview guide among the populations of 8 territories. The sample size was 384 households per territory chosen by the simple random sampling technique. The results showed that the competition of humans and wildlife for spaces was the leading cause of Human-Wildlife Conflicts in Kongo Central province to have been cited in 41.16% of the responses of the respondents. The loss of agricultural or pastoral production cited in 27.81% of the respondents' responses would be identified as the most significant socio-economic impact that the populations would suffer. Lethal control would be the preferred measure to prevent conflict in Kongo Central province with 30.44% of citations. Finally, community awareness and compensation by the State in the event of damage would be the measures proposed in 34.93% and 23.57% respectively of the responses of the populations.