HUMAN - OLIVE BABOON (Papio Anubis L) CONFLICTS in FARMS AROUND
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HUMAN - OLIVE BABOON (Papio anubis L) CONFLICTS IN FARMS AROUND MGORI FOREST RESERVE, SINGIDA, TANZANIA MWIRU FRANCIS GILBERT (B.Ed.Sc.) A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE (ANIMAL ECOLOGY) IN THE SCHOOL OF PURE AND APPLIED SCIENCES OF KENYATTA UNIVERSITY November, 2017 ii iii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my Bishops Desiderius Rwoma and Edward Mapunda, the Priests and all the people of Singida region. I also dedicate it to those who through their continuing efforts are conserving the environment and life at large. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisors Dr. Eunice Kairu and Dr. Linus K. Munishi for their close guidance and supervision of my research work and thesis. I also thank St. Augustine Catholic University of Tanzania for funding my studies at Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya. Special thanks go to my Bishops Desiderius Rwoma and Edward Mapunda who allowed me to pursue my studies. I also appreciate the assistance of Andrew Lucas, Augustine, Juma Hamisi, Elibariki Richard, Pasaka Isango and Jeremiah Mohamed during the collection of data. They worked hard despite heat, cold or rain. My gratitude extends to my fellow priests, relatives and friends. Above all I thank the Almighty God for his support and showing me the way in order to complete this work. v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION.............................................................................................................................ii DEDICATION................................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...........................................................................................................iv LIST OF TABLES........................................................................................................................vii LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... ....viii ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ................................................................................ ..x ABSTRACT..............................................................................................................................xi 1. CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION........................................................................................1 1.1 Background information..............................................................................................................1 1.2 Problem statement.......................................................................................................................2 1.3 Justification of the study..............................................................................................................3 1.4 Research questions......................................................................................................................3 1.5 Hypotheses..................................................................................................................................3 1.6 Objectives of the Study...............................................................................................................4 1.6.1 General Objective.....................................................................................................................4 1.6.2 Specific Objectives...................................................................................................................4 2. CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW..........................................................................5 2.1 The distribution of Olive baboons...............................................................................................5 2.2 Habitats of Olive baboons...........................................................................................................5 2.3 Diet of Olive baboons.................................................................................................................7 2.4 Breeding habits of Olive baboons...............................................................................................8 2.5 The human- Olive baboon conflicts..........................................................................................10 3. CHAPTER THREE: MATERIALS AND METHODS.........................................................12 3.1 Study area..................................................................................................................................12 3.1.1 Locations................................................................................................................................12 3.1.2 Climatic conditions.................................................................................................................12 3.1.3 Geology and soils...................................................................................................................17 3.1.4 Vegetation of the area.............................................................................................................17 3.1.5 Socio-economic activities.......................................................................................................18 3.2 Study population and study design............................................................................................19 3.2.1 Study population.....................................................................................................................19 3.2.2 Study design...........................................................................................................................19 3.3 Data collection...........................................................................................................................20 3.3.1 Crops preferred by Olive baboons..........................................................................................20 3.3.2 Relationship between the distance of the farm and the level of crop damage.......................21 3.3.3 Local peoples' perception of the nature, extent and intensity of crop damage.......................22 3.4 Research instruments' validation and reliability........................................................................22 3.5 Data analysis..............................................................................................................................22 4. CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS.................................................................................................22 4.1 Crops preferred by Olive baboons.............................................................................................24 4.2 Crops preferred by Olive baboons in the wet and dry seasons.................................................25 4.2.1 Economic loss due to crop raiding by Olive baboons............................................................27 vi 4.2.2 Animals that raid crops in Mgori...........................................................................................28 4.3 Relationship between distance of a farm from forest edge and level of crop damage..............29 4.4 Spatial and temporal distribution of crop raiding......................................................................32 4.4.1 Locations of crop raiding during the wet and dry seasons....................................................32 4.4.2 Testing whether troop size varied between seasons and among villages...............................34 4.4.3 Mitigation methods used by farmers to reduce crop raiding..................................................35 4.5 Local peoples' perception of the nature, extent and intensity of the crop damage...................37 4.5.1 The difference between actual and perceived levels of crop damage....................................39 5. CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.......40 5.1 Discussion.................................................................................................................................40 5.1.1 Crops preferred by Olive baboons..........................................................................................40 5.1.2 Relationship between the distance of the farm and level of crop damage.............................43 5.1.3 The crops preferred by Olive baboons in wet and dry seasons..............................................45 5.1.4 Local peoples' perception of the nature, extent and intensity of the crop damage............... 46 5.1.4.1 The methods used to mitigate crop raiding by Olive baboons and their effectiveness.......51 5.2 Conclusions...............................................................................................................................54 5.3 Recommendations.....................................................................................................................55 5.3.1 Recommendations for this Study...........................................................................................55 5.3.2 Recommendations for further research..................................................................................56 REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................57 APPENDICES...............................................................................................................................63 APPENDIX I: QUESTIONNAIRES AND STRUCTURED INTERVIEW…………………63 APPENDIX II: