Wildlife conflict trends can shape mitigation policies, research finds
New research examined human-wildlife conflict in Namibia between 2001 and 2019 to help understand long-term trends associated with the types and frequencies of these incidents.
The project, ‘Multispecies study of patterns and drivers of wildlife impacts on human livelihoods in communal conservancies’, found that this is essential in designing mitigation policies and allocating research.
According to the report, of 112 165 human-wildlife conflict incidents recorded during that time in Namibia, livestock depredation was the most common type (83%), while elephants were the most associated with conflict incidents (22%).
The research, however, found marked variations between regions with crop raiding, while attacks on humans were more prevalent in the north-east. Both livestock depredation and infrastructure damage were highest in the arid north-western regions, it said.
Meanwhile, the distance to the nearest protected area and river, terrain ruggedness, conservancy size and annual rainfall - amongst others - all had a significant impact on both the distribution and extent of human-wildlife impact reports.
‘Problem animals’
A total of 1 415 ‘problem animals’ were killed or trapped across 79 Namibian community conservancies from 2001 to 2019.
In terms of reported human-wildlife conflict frequency, livestock depredation was followed by crop raiding (15%) and damage to infrastructure (2%).
Less than 1% of reported incidents involved attacks on humans. Interestingly, hyenas (19%), jackals (13%), cheetahs (10%) and leopards (8%) were all more frequently associated with human-wildlife conflict than lions (4%), but were the top species declared as problem animals by the environment ministry (22% of 708 records) or shot by farmers (23% of 583 records).
The research further found that livestock attacks increased at the end of prolonged droughts around the onset of first rains in the country.
Also, infrastructure damage increased during months of low rainfall, likely due to animals damaging pipes and pumps in search of water.
Crop damage was also influenced by weather and time of the year, peaking later in the wet season and more frequently closer to protected areas.
Mitigation methods
“Predicting spatial and temporal patterns of human-wildlife conflict is important for protecting rural community livelihoods and tolerance towards wildlife. Such data are also essential for improving the management of wildlife and conservation of biodiversity outside of protected areas,” the research found.
It said mapping the negative impacts and determining the factors that drive high levels of damage are essential first steps to apportioning resources to affected areas and designing species-specific mitigation methods for select areas.
“The study shows the need to adopt a holistic management of human-wildlife conflict that accounts for multiple species and acknowledges the diversity and needs of people.”
The project, ‘Multispecies study of patterns and drivers of wildlife impacts on human livelihoods in communal conservancies’, found that this is essential in designing mitigation policies and allocating research.
According to the report, of 112 165 human-wildlife conflict incidents recorded during that time in Namibia, livestock depredation was the most common type (83%), while elephants were the most associated with conflict incidents (22%).
The research, however, found marked variations between regions with crop raiding, while attacks on humans were more prevalent in the north-east. Both livestock depredation and infrastructure damage were highest in the arid north-western regions, it said.
Meanwhile, the distance to the nearest protected area and river, terrain ruggedness, conservancy size and annual rainfall - amongst others - all had a significant impact on both the distribution and extent of human-wildlife impact reports.
‘Problem animals’
A total of 1 415 ‘problem animals’ were killed or trapped across 79 Namibian community conservancies from 2001 to 2019.
In terms of reported human-wildlife conflict frequency, livestock depredation was followed by crop raiding (15%) and damage to infrastructure (2%).
Less than 1% of reported incidents involved attacks on humans. Interestingly, hyenas (19%), jackals (13%), cheetahs (10%) and leopards (8%) were all more frequently associated with human-wildlife conflict than lions (4%), but were the top species declared as problem animals by the environment ministry (22% of 708 records) or shot by farmers (23% of 583 records).
The research further found that livestock attacks increased at the end of prolonged droughts around the onset of first rains in the country.
Also, infrastructure damage increased during months of low rainfall, likely due to animals damaging pipes and pumps in search of water.
Crop damage was also influenced by weather and time of the year, peaking later in the wet season and more frequently closer to protected areas.
Mitigation methods
“Predicting spatial and temporal patterns of human-wildlife conflict is important for protecting rural community livelihoods and tolerance towards wildlife. Such data are also essential for improving the management of wildlife and conservation of biodiversity outside of protected areas,” the research found.
It said mapping the negative impacts and determining the factors that drive high levels of damage are essential first steps to apportioning resources to affected areas and designing species-specific mitigation methods for select areas.
“The study shows the need to adopt a holistic management of human-wildlife conflict that accounts for multiple species and acknowledges the diversity and needs of people.”
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