Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess the potential for coexistence between rural people (living adjacent to a protected area) and predators (from the same area) ranging onto communal land. Ninety members of local communities bordering Manyeleti Game Reserve, which is contiguous with Kruger National Park, South Africa were interviewed. Respondents expressed diverging attitudes toward predators, which were more favorable among participants with higher education. Negative views were particularly due to fear of human and livestock losses, especially to lions, Panthera leo. Lions were thought to be the most abundant predator both within and outside the reserve. Lions were also the best known predator and were most often held responsible for killing livestock. Despite these livestock losses and a lack of conservation education, most participants voiced favorable opinions about large carnivore conservation, as predators were considered an integral part of the respondents’ natural heritage. Thanks to this cultural tolerance and also because of a largely accepted management policy regarding predator control, large carnivores and people can coexist in the vicinity of Kruger National Park.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anthony B (2007) The dual nature of parks: attitudes of neighbouring communities towards Kruger National Park, South Africa. Environmental Conservation 34:236–245
Baldus RD (2006) A man-eating lion (Panthera leo) from Tanzania with a toothache. European Journal of Wildlife Research 52:59–62
Bulte EH, Rondeau D (2005) Why compensating wildlife damages may be bad for conservation. Journal of Wildlife Management 69:14–19
Browne-Nuñez C, Jonker SA (2008) Attitudes toward wildlife and conservation across Africa: a review of survey research. Human Dimensions of Wildlife 13:47–70
Davies HT, du Toit JT (2004) Anthropogenic factors affecting wild dog Lycaon pictus reintroductions: a case study in Zimbabwe. Oryx 38:32–39
Dovie DBK, Shackleton CM, Witkowski ETF (2006) Valuation of communal area livestock benefits, rural livelihoods and related policy issues. Land Use Policy 23:260–271
Graham K, Beckerman AP, Thirgood S (2005) Human–predator–prey conflicts: ecological correlates, prey losses and patterns of management. Biological Conservation 122:159–171
Gusset M, Maddock AH, Gunther GJ, Szykman M, Slotow R, Walters M, Somers MJ (2008a) Conflicting human interests over the re-introduction of endangered wild dogs in South Africa. Biodiversity and Conservation 17:83–101
Gusset M, Swarner MJ, Mponwane L, Keletile K, McNutt JW (2008b) A survey of human–wild dog conflict in northern Botswana. Oryx (in press)
Holmern T, Nyahongo J, Røskaft E (2007) Livestock loss caused by predators outside the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Biological Conservation 135:534–542
Knoke D, Burke PJ (1980) Log-linear models. Sage Publications, Newbury Park, USA
Kolowski JM, Holekamp KE (2006) Spatial, temporal, and physical characteristics of livestock depredations by large carnivores along a Kenyan reserve border. Biological Conservation 128:529–541
Kruuk H (2002) Hunter and hunted: relationships between carnivores and people. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK
Lindsey PA, du Toit JT, Mills MGL (2005) Attitudes of ranchers towards African wild dogs Lycaon pictus: conservation implications on private land. Biological Conservation 125:113–121
Linnell JDC, Swenson JE, Andersen R (2001) Predators and people: conservation of large carnivores is possible at high human densities if management policy is favourable. Animal Conservation 4:345–349
Løe J, Røskaft E (2004) Large carnivores and human safety: a review. Ambio 33:283–288
Madden F (2004) Creating coexistence between humans and wildlife: global perspectives on local efforts to address human–wildlife conflict. Human Dimensions of Wildlife 9:247–257
Marker LL, Mills MGL, Macdonald DW (2003) Factors influencing perceptions of conflict and tolerance toward cheetahs on Namibian farmlands. Conservation Biology 17:1290–1298
Ogada MO, Woodroffe R, Oguge NO, Frank LG (2003) Limiting depredation by African carnivores: the role of livestock husbandry. Conservation Biology 17:1521–1530
Packer C, Ikanda D, Kissui B, Kushnir H (2005) Lion attacks on humans in Tanzania. Nature 436:927–928
Patterson BD, Kasiki SM, Selempo E, Kays RW (2004) Livestock predation by lions (Panthera leo) and other carnivores on ranches neighboring Tsavo National Parks, Kenya. Biological Conservation 119:507–516
Rasmussen GSA (1999) Livestock predation by the painted hunting dog Lycaon pictus in a cattle ranching region of Zimbabwe: a case study. Biological Conservation 88:133–139
Romañach SS, Lindsey PA, Woodroffe R (2007) Determinants of attitudes towards predators in central Kenya and suggestions for increasing tolerance in livestock dominated landscapes. Oryx 41:185–195
Schiess-Meier M, Ramsauer S, Gabanapelo T, König B (2007) Livestock predation—insights from problem animal control registers in Botswana. Journal of Wildlife Management 71:1267–1274
Selebatso M, Moe SR, Swenson JE (2008) Do farmers support cheetah Acinonyx jubatus conservation in Botswana despite livestock depredation? Oryx 42:430–436
Sillero-Zubiri C, Laurenson MK (2001) Interactions between carnivores and local communities: conflict or co-existence? In: Gittleman JL, Funk SM, Macdonald D, Wayne RK (eds) Carnivore conservation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp 282–312
Stander PE (1990) A suggested management strategy for stock-raiding lions in Namibia. South African Journal of Wildlife Research 20:37–43
Treves A, Karanth KU (2003) Human-carnivore conflict and perspectives on carnivore management worldwide. Conservation Biology 17:1491–1499
White PCL, Vaughan Jennings N, Renwick AR, Barker NHL (2005) Questionnaires in ecology: a review of past use and recommendations for best practice. Journal of Applied Ecology 42:421–430
Woodroffe R, Ginsberg JR (1998) Edge effects and the extinction of populations inside protected areas. Science 280:2126–2128
Woodroffe R, Frank LG (2005) Lethal control of African lions (Panthera leo): local and regional population impacts. Animal Conservation 8:91–98
Woodroffe R, Lindsey P, Romañach S, Stein A, ole Ranah SMK (2005) Livestock predation by endangered African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) in northern Kenya. Biological Conservation 124:225–234
Woodroofe R, Frank LG, Lindsey PA, ole Ranah SMK, Romañach S (2007) Livestock husbandry as a tool for carnivore conservation in Africa’s community rangelands: a case-control study. Biodiversity and Conservation 16:1245–1260
Yamazaki K, Bwalya T (1999) Fatal lion attacks on local people in the Luangwa Valley, eastern Zambia. South African Journal of Wildlife Research 29:19–21
Acknowledgments
We thank Siyabulela Morris for his help with getting permission to do the questionnaire survey in the communities, as well as Aser Ndlovu for his enthusiastic and invaluable assistance in conducting the interviews. We are grateful to Tara Teel, Wayne Twine, and three anonymous referees for helpful comments on the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lagendijk, D.D.G., Gusset, M. Human–Carnivore Coexistence on Communal Land Bordering the Greater Kruger Area, South Africa. Environmental Management 42, 971–976 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9204-5
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-008-9204-5