Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T08:36:04.039Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 May 2020

Eric G LeFlore Open the ORCID record for Eric G LeFlore [Opens in a new window] ,
Todd K Fuller ,
Mathata Tomeletso ,
Tiro C Dimbindo  and
Andrew B Stein
Eric G LeFlore*
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA01003, USA Environmental Science & Studies Program, Stonehill College, 320 Washington Street, Easton, MA02357, USA CLAWS Conservancy, 32 Pine Tree Drive, Worcester, MA01609, USA
Todd K Fuller
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 160 Holdsworth Way, Amherst, MA01003, USA CLAWS Conservancy, 32 Pine Tree Drive, Worcester, MA01609, USA
Mathata Tomeletso
Affiliation:
CLAWS Conservancy, 32 Pine Tree Drive, Worcester, MA01609, USA
Tiro C Dimbindo
Affiliation:
CLAWS Conservancy, 32 Pine Tree Drive, Worcester, MA01609, USA
Andrew B Stein
Affiliation:
CLAWS Conservancy, 32 Pine Tree Drive, Worcester, MA01609, USA Landmark College, 19 River Road South, Putney, VT05346, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Eric G LeFlore, Email: eleflore.eco@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Humans are contributing to large carnivore declines around the globe, and conservation interventions should focus on increasing local stakeholder tolerance of carnivores and be informed by both biological and social considerations. In the Okavango Delta (Botswana), we tested new conservation strategies alongside a pre-existing government compensation programme. The new strategies included the construction of predator-proof livestock enclosures, the establishment of an early warning system linked to GPS satellite lion collars, depredation event investigations and educational programmes. We conducted pre- and post-assessments of villagers’ livestock management practices, attitudes towards carnivores and conservation, perceptions of human–carnivore coexistence and attitudes towards established conservation programmes. Livestock management levels were low and 50% of farmers lost livestock to carnivores, while 5–10% of owned stock was lost. Respondents had strong negative attitudes towards lions, which kill most depredated livestock. Following new management interventions, tolerance of carnivores significantly increased, although tolerance of lions near villages did not. The number of respondents who believed that coexistence with carnivores was possible significantly increased. Respondents had negative attitudes towards the government-run compensation programme, citing low and late payments, but were supportive of the new management interventions. These efforts show that targeted, intensive management can increase stakeholder tolerance of carnivores.

Keywords

attitudesconflict mitigationhuman–carnivore conflicthuman–wildlife impactshuman dimensionsmanagementPanthera leoquestionnairetolerance
Type
Research Paper
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 47 , Issue 3 , September 2020 , pp. 182 - 189
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Foundation for Environmental Conservation

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Botswana Population and Housing Census (2011) Botswana Population and Housing Census [www document] URL www.catalog.ihsn.org/index.php/catalog/4243/download/55990Google Scholar
Breitenmoser, U, Angst, C, Landry, J-M, Breitenmoser-Würsten, C, Linnell, JDC, Weber, J-M (2005) Non-lethal techniques for reducing depredation. In: People and Wildlife: Conflict or Coexistence? eds Woodroffe, R, Thirgood, S, Rabinowitz, AR, pp. 49–71. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruskotter, JT, Wilson, RS (2014) Determining where the wild things will be: using psychological theory to find tolerance for large carnivores. Conservation Letters 7: 158–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cross, P, St. John, FAV, Khan, S, Petroczi, A (2013) Innovative techniques for estimating illegal activities in a human–wildlife–management conflict. PLoS ONE 8: e53681.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department of Wildlife and National Parks (1998) Guidelines for Compensation. Gaborone, Botswana: Department of Wildlife and National Parks.Google Scholar
Department of Wildlife and National Parks (2013) Compensation Guidelines for Damages Caused by Elephants and Lion. Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism. Gaborone, Botswana: Government of Botswana.Google Scholar
Dickman, A (2005) An Assessment of Pastoralist Attitudes and Wildlife Conflict in the Rungwa-Ruaha Region, Tanzania, with Particular Reference to Large Carnivores. MSc thesis, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.Google Scholar
Dickman, AJ (2010) Complexities of conflict: the importance of considering social factors for effectively resolving human–wildlife conflict. Animal Conservation 13: 458–466.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickman, AJ, Hazzah, L (2016) Money, myths and man-eaters: complexities of human–wildlife conflict. In: Problematic Wildlife: A Cross-Disciplinary Approach, ed. Angelici, FM, pp. 339–356. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickman, AJ, Hazzah, L, Carbone, C, Durant, SM (2014) Carnivores, culture and ‘contagious conflict’: multiple factors influence perceived problems with carnivores in Tanzania’s Ruaha landscape. Biological Conservation 178: 19–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dickman, AJ, Macdonald, EA, Macdonald, DW (2011). A review of financial instruments to pay for predator conservation and encourage human–carnivore coexistence. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108: 13937–13944.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eklund, A, Lopez-Bao, JV, Tourani, M, Chapron, G, Frank, J (2017) Limited evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to reduce livestock predation by large carnivores. Scientific Reports 7: 2097.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frank, LG (1998) Living with Lions: Carnivore Conservation and Livestock in Laikipia. Bethesda, MD, USA: Development Alternatives.Google Scholar
Frank, LG, Woodroffe, R, Ogada, MO (2005) People and predators in Laikipia District, Kenya. In: People and Wildlife: Conflict or Coexistence? eds Woodroffe, R, Thirgood, S, Rabinowitz, AR, pp. 286–304. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Funston, P (2014) The Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area – critical for African lions. Cat News 60: 4–7.Google Scholar
Fynn, RWS, Murray-Hudson, M, Dhliwayo, M, Scholte, P (2015) African wetlands and their seasonal use by wild and domestic herbivores. Wetlands Ecology and Management 23: 559–581.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gebresenbet, F, Bauer, H, Vadjunec, JM, Papeş, M (2018) Beyond the numbers: human attitudes and conflict with lions (Panthera leo) in and around Gambella National Park, Ethiopia. PLoS ONE 13: e0204320.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Graham, K, Beckerman, AP, Thirgood, S (2005) Human–predator–prey conflicts: ecological correlates, prey losses and patterns of management. Biological Conservation 122: 159–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gusset, M, Swarner, MJ, Mponwane, L, Keletile, K, McNutt, JW (2009) Human–wildlife conflict in northern Botswana: livestock predation by Endangered African wild dog Lycaon pictus and other carnivores. Oryx 43: 67–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hemson, G, Maclennan, S, Mills, G, Johnson, P, Macdonald, D (2009) Community, lions, livestock and money: a spatial and social analysis of attitudes to wildlife and the conservation value of tourism in a human–carnivore conflict in Botswana. Biological Conservation 142: 2718–2725.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Inskip, C, Carter, N, Riley, S, Roberts, T, MacMillan, D (2016) Toward human–carnivore coexistence: understanding tolerance for tigers in Bangladesh. PLoS ONE 11: e0145913.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kansky, R, Kidd, M, Knight, AT (2014) Meta-analysis of attitudes toward damage-causing mammalian wildlife. Conservation Biology 28: 924–938.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Karani, IW (1994) An Assessment of Depredation by Lions and Other Predators in the Group Ranches Adjacent to Masai Mara National Reserve. MSc thesis, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya.Google Scholar
Kgathi, DL, Kniveton, D, Ringrose, S, Turton, AR, Vanderpost, CHM, Lundqvist, J, Seely, M (2006) The Okavango; a river supporting its people, environment and economic development. Journal of Hydrology 331: 3–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kolowski, JM, Holekamp, KE (2006) Spatial and temporal variation in livestock depredation by large carnivores along a Kenyan reserve border. Biological Conservation 128: 529–541.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krafte Holland, K, Larson, LR, Powell, RB (2018) Characterizing conflict between humans and big cats Panthera spp: a systematic review of research trends and management opportunities. PLoS ONE 13: e0203877.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kruuk, H (1980) The Effects of Large Carnivores on Livestock and Animal Husbandry in Marsabit District, Kenya. Man and the Biosphere Integrated Project in Arid Lands Technical Report E-4. Nairobi, Kenya: United Nations Environment Programme.Google Scholar
Lagendijk, DDG, Gusset, M (2008) Human–carnivore coexistence on communal land bordering the Greater Kruger Area, South Africa. Environmental Management 42: 971–976.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lamarque, F, Anderson, J, Fergusson, R, Lagrange, M, Osei-Owusu, Y, Bakker, L (2009) Human–Wildlife Conflict in Africa. Causes, Consequences and Management Strategies. Rome, Italy: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Forestry.Google Scholar
LeFlore, EG (2020) Pride in Our Prides: Mitigating Human–Lion Conflict in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. PhD dissertation, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA.Google Scholar
LeFlore, EG, Fuller, TK, Tomeletso, M, Stein, AB (2019) Livestock depredation by large carnivores in northern Botswana. Global Ecology and Conservation 18: e00592.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, C, Jiang, Z, Li, C, Tang, S, Li, F, Luo, Zet al. (2015) Livestock depredations and attitudes of local pastoralists toward carnivores in the Qinghai Lake Region, China. Wildlife Biology 21: 204–212.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lindsey, PA, duToit, JT, Mills, MGL (2005) Attitudes of ranchers towards African wild dogs Lycaon pictus: conservation implications on private land. Biological Conservation 125: 113–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mbaiwa, JE (2018) Effects of the safari hunting tourism ban on rural livelihoods and wildlife conservation in northern Botswana. South African Geographical Journal 100: 41–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mbaiwa, JE, Ngwenya, BN, Kgathi, DL (2008) Contending with unequal and privileged access to natural resources and land in the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography 29: 155–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCarthy, TS, Cooper, GRJ, Tyson, PD, Ellery, WN (2000) Seasonal flooding in the Okavango Delta, Botswana – recent history and future prospects. South African Journal of Science 96: 25–33.Google Scholar
Messmer, TA (2000) Emergence of human–wildlife conflict management: turning challenges into opportunities. International Biodeterioration and Biodegradation 45: 97–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mishra, C (1997) Livestock depredation by large carnivores in the Indian trans-Himalaya: conflict perceptions and conservation prospects. Environmental Conservation 24: 338–343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mishra, C, Allen, P, McCarthy, T, Madhusudan, MD, Bayarjargal, A, Prins, HHT (2003) The role of incentive programs in conserving the snow leopard. Conservation Biology 17: 1512–1520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Naughton-Treves, L (1997) Farming the forest edge: vulnerable places and people around Kibale National Park, Uganda. Geographical Review 87: 27–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Naughton-Treves, L, Treves, A (2005) Socio-ecological factors shaping local support for wildlife: crop raiding by elephants and other wildlife in Africa. In: People and Wildlife: Conflict or Coexistence? eds Woodroffe, R, Thirgood, S, Rabinowitz, AR, pp. 252–277. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Naughton-Treves, L, Grossberg, R, Treves, A (2003) Paying for tolerance: rural citizens’ attitudes toward wolf depredation and compensation. Conservation Biology 17: 1500–1511.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nyhus, P, Fischer, H, Madden, F, Osofsky, S (2003) Taking the bite out of wildlife damage: the challenges of wildlife compensation schemes. Conservation in Practice 4: 37–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nyhus, PJ, Osofsky, SA, Ferraro, P, Madden, F, Fischer, H (2005) Bearing the cost of human–wildlife conflict: the challenges of compensation schemes. In: People and Wildlife: Conflict or Coexistence? eds Woodroffe, R, Thirgood, S, Rabinowitz, AR, pp. 107–121. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ogada, MO, Woodroffe, R, Oguge, NO, Frank, LG (2003) Limiting depredation by African carnivores: the role of livestock husbandry. Conservation Biology 17: 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patterson, BD, Kasiki, SM, Selempo, E, Kays, RW (2004) Livestock depredation by lions (Panthera leo) and other carnivores on ranches neighboring Tsavo National Parks, Kenya. Biological Conservation 119: 507–516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peterson, MN, Birckhead, JL, Leong, K, Peterson, MJ, Peterson, TR (2010) Rearticulating the myth of human–wildlife conflict. Conservation Letters 3: 74–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
R Core Team (2018) R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing, [www document]. URL https://www.R-project.orgGoogle Scholar
Ramberg, L, Hancock, P, Lindholm, M, Meyer, T, Ringrose, S, Sliva, Jet al. (2006) Species diversity of the Okavango Delta, Botswana. Aquatic Sciences 68: 310–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Redpath, SM, Bhatia, S, Young, J (2015) Tilting at wildlife: reconsidering human–wildlife conflict. Oryx 49: 222–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Redpath, SM, Young, J, Evely, A, Adamas, WM, Sutherland, WJ, Whitehouse, Aet al. (2013) Understanding and managing conservation conflicts. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 28: 100–109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Riggio, J, Jacobson, A, Dollar, L, Bauer, H, Dickman, A, Funston, Pet al. (2013) The size of savannah Africa: a lion’s view. Biodiversity and Conservation 22: 17–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ripple, WJ, Estes, JA, Beschta, RL, Wilmers, CC, Ritchie, EG, Hebblewhite, Met al. (2014) Status and ecological effects of the world’s largest carnivores. Science 343: 1241484.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tarrant, MA, Manfredo, MJ, Bayley, PB, Hess, R (1993) Effects of recall bias and nonresponse bias on self-report estimates of angling participation. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 13: 217–222.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Treves, A, Bruskotter, J (2014) Tolerance for predatory wildlife. Science 344: 476–477.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Treves, A, Karanth, KU (2003) Human–carnivore conflict and perspectives on carnivore management worldwide. Conservation Biology 17: 1491–1499.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Eeden, LM, Eklund, A, Miller, JRB, López-Bao, JV, Chapron, G, Cejtin, MRet al. (2018) Carnivore conservation needs evidence-based livestock protection. PLoS Biology 16: e2005577.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weise, FJ, Hauptmeier, H, Stratford, KJ, Hayward, MW, Aal, K, Heuer, Met al. (2019) Lions at the gates: transdisciplinary design of an early warning system to improve human–lion coexistence. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 6: 242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weise, FJ, Hayward, MW, Casillas Aguirre, R, Tomeletso, M, Gadimang, P, Somers, MJ, Stein, AB (2018) Size, shape, and maintenance matter: a critical appraisal of a global carnivore mitigation strategy – livestock protection kraals in northern Botswana. Biological Conservation 225: 88–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Western, G, Macdonald, DW, Loveridge, AJ, Dickman, AJ (2019) Creating landscapes of coexistence: do conservation interventions promote tolerance of lions in human–dominated landscapes? Conservation and Society 17: 204–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winterbach, HEK, Winterbach, CW, Somers, MJ, Hayward, MW (2013) Key factors and related principles in the conservation of large African carnivores. Mammal Review 43: 89–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodroffe, R (2001) Strategies for carnivore conservation: lessons from contemporary extinctions. In: Carnivore Conservation, eds Gittleman, JL, Wayne, RK, Macdonald, DW, Funk, SM, pp. 61–92. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Woodroffe, R, Frank, LG (2005) Lethal control of African lions (Panthera leo): local and regional population impacts. Animal Conservation 8: 91–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodroffe, R, Frank, LG, Lindsey, PA, ole Ranah, SMK, Romañach, S (2007) Livestock husbandry as a tool for carnivore conservation in Africa’s community rangelands: a case–control study. Biodiversity Conservation 16: 1245–1260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodroffe, R, Thirgood, S, Rabinowitz, A, eds (2005a) People and Wildlife: Conflict or Coexistence? Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodroffe, R, Thirgood, S, Rabinowitz, A (2005b) The impact of human–wildlife conflict on natural systems. In: People and Wildlife: Conflict or Coexistence? eds Woodroffe, R, Thirgood, S, Rabinowitz, AR, pp. 1–12. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Bank (2016) Botswana Population Rate. World Development Indicators, The World Bank [www document]. URL http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW?locations=BWGoogle Scholar
Young, JC, Marzano, M, White, RM, McCracken, DI, Redpath, SM, Carss, DNet al. (2010) The emergence of biodiversity conflicts from biodiversity impacts: characteristics and management strategies. Biodiversity and Conservation 19: 3973–3990.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zimmermann, A, Walpole, MJ, Leader-Williams, N (2005) Cattle ranchers’ attitudes to conflicts with jaguar Panthera onca in the Pantanal of Brazil. Oryx 39: 406–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

LeFlore et al. supplementary material

LeFlore et al. supplementary material

Download LeFlore et al. supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 204.5 KB