iBet uBet web content aggregator. Adding the entire web to your favor.
iBet uBet web content aggregator. Adding the entire web to your favor.



Link to original content: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30252886
Beyond the numbers: Human attitudes and conflict with lions (Panthera leo) in and around Gambella National Park, Ethiopia - PubMed Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Sep 25;13(9):e0204320.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204320. eCollection 2018.

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

Fikirte Gebresenbet  1 , Hans Bauer  2 , Jacqueline M Vadjunec  3 , Monica Papeş  4
Affiliations

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

Fikirte Gebresenbet et al. PLoS One. .

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.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Map of study area.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Overview of livestock loss between 1995 and 2015 in Gambella region, Ethiopia.
Three main factors linked to livestock loss are presented in relation to (a) number of individuals experiencing livestock loss and (b) magnitude of livestock loss, in Tropical Livestock Units, by each factor; a total of 210 household surveys were analyzed.
Fig 3
Fig 3
Locals’ answers to the question ‘why do lions attack livestock’ in Gambella, Ethiopia (A = lack of wild prey; B = because the livestock graze close to lions; C = because lions are violent in nature; D = because lions are habitual raiders; E = don’t know; F = other reasons) (N = 210).
Fig 4
Fig 4. Comparison of livestock loss reported by individuals surveyed in Kafa Biosphere Reserve and in and around Gambella National Park, Ethiopia.
Fig 5
Fig 5. The eight rungs of Arnstein’s ladder of participation, grouped into increasing degrees of power (source: [16]).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Bauer H, Packer C, Funston PF, Henschel P, Nowell K. Panthera leo: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species; 2016. [cited 2017 August 14]. Available from: www.iucnredlist.org.
    1. Patterson BD, Kasiki SM, Selempo E, Kays RW. Livestock predation by lions (Panthera leo) and other carnivores on ranches neighboring Tsavo National ParkS, Kenya. Biological Conservation. 2004;119(4):507–16. 10.1016/j.biocon.2004.01.013. - DOI
    1. Kissui BM. Livestock predation by lions, leopards, spotted hyenas, and their vulnerability to retaliatory killing in the Maasai steppe, Tanzania. Animal Conservation. 2008;11(5):422–32. 10.1111/j.1469-1795.2008.00199.x - DOI
    1. Predators Woodroffe R. and people: using human densities to interpret declines of large carnivores. Animal Conservation. 2000;3(2):165–73. 10.1111/j.1469-1795.2000.tb00241.x - DOI
    1. Woodroffe R, Frank LG. Lethal control of African lions (Panthera leo): Local and regional population impacts. Animal Conservation. 2005;8:91–8.

Publication types

Grants and funding

FG obtained funding for this study from the Schlumberger Foundation via their Faculty for the Future fellowship program (http://www.slb.com/news/inside_news/2017/2017_05-12_faculty_of_the_future.aspx). The Schlumberger Foundation had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

LinkOut - more resources