When wildlife and humans share the same environment, there is a potential for conflict to occur. This can be split into several categories:
The most common way that predators cause humans financial loss is when they take livestock from farms. While carnivores such as Lion, Leopard and Cheetah will kill cattle, sheep or goats, smaller predators can also be a problem, for instance when the farmer keeps chickens, which can fall prey to jackals, honey badgers, caracal and various other small and medium sized carnivores.
Other wildlife is also responsible for causing conflict with humans - elephants in particular can be a major problem for farmers growing crops as a herd of elephants can eat a farmers entire years crop in a single night causing major financial hardship. Other animals also come onto farmland and eat crops.
Elephants are also a major problem in arid countries such as Namibia or during times of drought in other countries as they will often cause a lot of damage to get at water. Villages or farms often have a water tank to store water pumped up from a borehole, and a thirsty elephant can easily cause significant damage to the tank in its attempt (usually successful) to get to the water. Similarly water pipes are easily damaged by thirsty elephants
The scale of the loss varies dramatically between farms. A large commercial farm
with 1000 cattle that lost 10 to lions has suffered a small loss (1%) whereas a subsistence farmer with 5 goats who loses
one of them to a leopard has suffered a far greater loss (20%) of his livestock, and although the goat is less valuable than
10 cows, the small farmer is less able to cope financially with the loss. For this reason small subsistence farmers are
likely to be less tolerant of predators than a large commercial farmer (although some large farms are very intolerant of
predators).
Another way the wildlife causes additional costs to farmers is more indirect. To prevent
losses, the farmer may invest in fencing, dogs to protect the sheep or goats, and these measures while they may reduce losses,
still cost the farmer money.
It is clear that if people suffer losses due to the activities of wildlife without seeing any benefits, then their tolerance levels will decrease. For lions and other wildlife to have a safe future outside fenced-in national parks then it is important to try and share the benefits that wildlife can bring. This is primarily revenue from tourism and in some areas trophy hunting, and the distribution of this is key to the long term future of predators and other wildlife. The Serengeti/Masaai Mara parks are not fenced, so lions and other carnivores roam freely in and out of the park, so when conflict occurs it will generally be on farmland bordering the parks. If all the revenue from tourists visiting the parks remains inside the national parks systems or goes back to central government, then the farmers are likely to (possibly illegally) hunt down and kill offending carnivores to try and stop their losses, whereas if they share in the revenue the parks generate, and are involved in the decision making processes then this may be enough to convince them to tolerate some livestock losses.
Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) programs aim to give local communities control over their natural resources so they can benefit from them. For example, in some areas of Namibia local communities have set up conservancies where they either use their wildlife to attract tourists or allow a limited amount of trophy hunting to take place to generate revenue for the local community that has to bear the costs of living with wildlife. Once the communities see benefits from the wildlife then they have an incentive to help conserve it.
For farmers in areas with predators such as Lion, leopard, hyena and cheetah, one of the biggest problems is the loss of livestock to the predators. There are however a number of measures that can be taken by farmers to reduce the scale of the problem.
The first step is to identify the predators present on the farm or in the local area. There is little point building expensive protection against lions for instance if there are no lions around. Spoor is a good way to identify what animals are in an area, as predators are often hard to spot.
The second step is to implement good livestock management techniques to reduce the risks from predators. There are a number of techniques that can be used.
Kraals are a widely used method of protecting livestock from predators, and are used across much of Africa. A Kraal is an enclosure which is used to keep livestock safe. Typically livestock is let out to graze during the day and then returned to the kraal for the night. The kraal can be constructed in a number of ways. One of the most common is a thorn bush kraal where thorny branches are used to create a wall which keeps predators out. Other construction methods include the use of wicker (woven poles), wire fencing, wood or stone walls.
The kraal should have high enough sides to stop a predator jumping over them and into the kraal. It also needs to be strong enough to keep the livestock inside. If cattle smell a lion outside the kraal then they can easily panic and stampede - and if the kraal isn't strong enough then they can break out of the kraal to where the lion is waiting.
Research has shown that a kraal is most effective if its sides are thick enough or constructed in such a way that the predators cannot see through the walls of the kraal. When making a kraal out of wire mesh, cloth can be used to screen off the lower metre or so of the fence to stop the predators seeing through. With thorn bush kraals then making the thorn bush walls thicker helps restrict the view of the predators.
Another factor shown to be key to the success of a kraal is the number of gates in the walls. Ideally there should just be a single gate.
The kraal should be sited near a home so that if there is a disturbance at night, it will be heard and can be investigated immediately.
Moving livestock in and out of kraals can be seen as extra work for a farmer, but it has several benefits. Firstly the livestock is a lot safer if it is kept in a kraal at night (when predators such as Lions, Leopards and Hyenas are most active). Secondly by making sure the animals are counted in and out of the kraal then any missing animals can be quickly noticed and a search started for the missing animal. In contrast, farms where the livestock is allowed to wander freely during the day and night may not notice a missing animal for a much longer period. Also when moving the livestock in and out of the kraal the farmer is able to visually inspect the animals to identify any health problems, and get sick or injured animals treated.
Kraals should also be used for calving animals. Keeping the calves and their mothers in a separate kraal for a few months after the birth of the calf gives the calf extra protection at the time when it is most vulnerable. This increases the chances of survival of the calf.
Although it is not always practical, fencing grazing areas is one option to reduce or eliminate the threat from predators. By using wire fences plus electrified strands, it is possible to create a fence that will keep predators out. Fencing like this is expensive and is only generally used on larger commercial farms. Fencing has to allow places for animals such as warthogs to cross under the fence (usually using swing gates) as they would otherwise simply dig their way under the fence and leave an easy entry point for predators. Fences also need regular inspection and maintenance to ensure they are in good working order and there are no gaps for predators to enter.
One way to protect livestock is through the use of livestock guarding animals. Usually these are dogs, but other animals such as donkeys are sometimes used. Guarding dogs protect the livestock by patrolling, scent marking and barking. They act as a deterrent to predators, particularly smaller predators such as caracal and cheetah, and will also chase off predators they see. Cheetah Conservation Botswana produce a leaflet on livestock guarding dogs which contains information on choice of dogs and training.
In parts of Africa it is usual to see herds of cattle, or flocks of sheep and goats roaming around with nobody watching them. While this is the easy option, it is also the least effective way to ensure the safety of the livestock. Predators are opportunistic and unguarded livestock is an easy meal for them. In East Africa, the Masaai keep someone with the herds of cattle to watch for threats from predators. If spotted, then a predator can usually be scared off.
One problem is that when a farmer finds a predator eating one of his livestock, then the automatic assumption is that the predator has just killed the cow, sheep or goat. In practice, if the farmer doesn't look after his livestock well and doesn't check for disease and get it treated, then animals will die from disease. If a goat for instance dies from illness and a hyena finds it, it will eat the carcass. The farmer who see's this or sees Hyena spoor near the carcass will assume the Hyena killed the goat, when in fact the Hyena is innocent. This means that farmers sometimes see predators as a bigger problem than they actually are. It is always easier for a farmer or farm worker to blame a predator than it is to admit that they didn't look after the livestock properly e.g. by checking for disease or bringing the livestock into the kraal at night.
When raising livestock, it is easy to look on wildlife such as impala, kudu, and other herbivores as competition - after all they eat the same grass or bushes that the cattle and goats eat. There is then a temptation to try and get rid of the competition by either shooting the wildlife or driving it away. One problem with this is that predators will usually prey on wildlife species, but if these are not present then they are forced to turn to the farmers livestock as an alternative food source. Tolerating the presence of wildlife means the predators have food sources that don't involve them attacking livestock.
© Predator Conservation Trust.
