TITLE:
Human-Carnivore Conflicts in Private Conservancy Lands of Elerai and Oltiyiani in Amboseli Area, Kenya
AUTHORS:
Moses Makonjio Okello, John Warui Kiringe, Fiesta Warinwa
KEYWORDS:
Amboseli, Human-Carnivore Conflicts, Livestock Depredation
JOURNAL NAME:
Natural Resources,
Vol.5 No.8,
June
24,
2014
ABSTRACT:
Human-carnivore conflicts represent the most common negative
form of interactions between humans and wildlife. Most carnivores involved in
such conflicts are: lion, hyena, leopard and cheetah. Three strategies are
normally used in Kenya to mitigate such conflicts; consolation for lost livestock
and human life to increase tolerance to them, use of predator proof homesteads
especially among pastoralists, use flicking lights at night to discourage
approach of carnivores near homesteads, and awareness creation among communities
on the ecological role of carnivores. This study examined human-carnivore
interactions in privately owned conservancies near Amboseli National Park,
Kenya. The conservancies were found to have almost similar human and livestock
demography. However, homesteads in Elerai had more fence broken parts and
relatively higher levels of livestock predation by lion and hyena. The higher
the number of each livestock type was, the higher the specific predation to
that livestock type was, implying density dependent effects of predation by
carnivores on livestock. It seemed that the fence structure and level of
maintenance (including carnivore strategies on specializing on specific
livestock size and age consistent with optimizing their foraging strategies)
influenced predation incidences. However, the presence of adult males and
Maasai warriors (morans) in bomas did not seem to be related with the number of
livestock killed by carnivores, implying that they didn’t add vigilance as an
additional strategy to prevent livestock depredation. It is recommended that
attention be paid on maintenance of homestead and livestock fences as well as
vigilance to deter predation. We further recommend strategies to prevent
livestock predation such as, installation of chain link predator proof fences or
carnivore lighting deterrents at night because woody plants fences are
ineffective and deteriorate easily with time, and also lead to depletion of
plant resources critical to households.