Carnivore-livestock conflict in Southern Namibia

Clara María Koch Jiménez

Master's thesis

Abstract:

Carnivore-livestock conflict is a worldwide ongoing problem that affects farmers livelihoods and carnivore conservation. In order to mitigate the dispute, a deep understanding of the social and ecological factors that drive it is necessary. This study investigated attitudes of farmers in South-eastern Namibia towards carnivore species as well as the impact of livestock protection techniques on carnivores’ distribution and abundance. These two objectives were carried out with informal interviews and closed questionnaires, along with a camera trap survey covering a protected wildlife reserve and its three surrounding farms. Using two main descriptors of species’ presence - occupancy and camera trapping rate- it was found that carnivores’ populations were affected by livestock husbandry. Black-backed jackals, brown hyaenas, honey badgers and leopards were only found in the reserve, whereas wild cats and cape foxes were distributed in both areas. The abundance of cape foxes did not differ between the areas, whereas the wild cats’ abundance was slightly higher within the wildlife reserve. Questionnaire results showed that attitudes towards these carnivores were in general negative, especially for jackals and caracals, the most conflictive and removed species. Although the proportion of livestock losses attributed to predators were high, they did not correlate with the level of conflict. Results showed that the use of preventive husbandry such as fences, herders, dogs, or night enclosures served to reduce carnivore predation. These findings provide insight into the conflict and suggest that interventions aiming to improve attitudes towards carnivores should focus on education, the use of livestock protection techniques, and the implementation of game use and trophy hunting activities as alternative income sources.

Keywords

farmers, questionnaires, camera trap, attitudes, distribution

Jazyk práce: English

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 23. 4. 2021

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Vedúci: doc. Ing. Karolína Brandlová, Ph.D.

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences

Master programme / odbor:
Tropical Agriculture / Wildlife Management in the Tropics and Subtropics