The Social Dimensions of Human-Elephant Conflict in Africa: a Literature Review and Case Studies from Uganda and Cameroon
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The social dimensions of human-elephant conflict in Africa: A literature review and case studies from Uganda and Cameroon Lisa Naughton*, Robert Rose* and Adrian Treves† *Department of Geography University of Wisconsin, Madison 550 N. Park Street Madison, WI 53706 [email protected]; [email protected] †Department of Zoology University of Wisconsin, Madison 250 N. Mills Street Madison, WI 53706 [email protected] A Report to the African Elephant Specialist , Human-Elephant Task Conflict Task Force, of IUCN, Glands, Switzerland. December 1999 Acknowledgments: Several individuals and organizations provided support: In Cameroon, Robert Rose’s fieldwork was funded by the Wildlife Conservation Society, through a grant by Dutch Foreign Aid. The Cameroon case study was aided greatly by the expertise of WCS field staff, particularly Anthony Nchanji, Roger Fotso, and Bryan Curran. Walters Arrey was responsible for monitoring crop damage during July-October 1999. In Uganda, Lisa Naughton and Adrian Treves’ fieldwork was funded by the Wildlife Conservation Society, National Geographic, Makerere University Biological Field Station, NSF, and Fulbright-Hays. Pascal Baguma and Patrick Katuramu provided first-rate assistance with data collection and interviews around Kibale National Park. Patrick Ilukol and Erica Cochrane generously shared their knowledge of elephant movement and raiding behavior at Kibale. In Madison, Karen Archabald provided comments on draft excerpts of this report. Erin Olson- Dedjoe and Nora Alvarez helped with data entry. Finally, Richard Hoare deserves special thanks for his expert counsel and assistance throughout the study. 2 Table of Contents Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………………………….2 Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………………3 List of Tables and Figures……………………………………………………………………………...4 I. INTRODUCTION A. Overview………………………………………………………………………………..…6 B. Physical and social factors intensifying human-elephant conflict in Africa………………8 II. LITERATURE SURVEY A. Estimating crop loss to pests in developing countries………………………………….…11 B. The social significance of crop pests. Collective versus individual coping strategies ….12 C. Comparing elephants to other wildlife ‘pests’ in African forests and savannas…….…....14 III. CASE STUDY: LOCAL RESPONSE TO CROP DAMAGE BY ELEPHANTS AND OTHER WILDLIFE AROUND KIBALE NATIONAL PARK, UGANDA A. Introduction and historical background……………………………………………….…21 B. Results of previous research on crop raiding at Kibale………………….………………26 C. 1999 Research……………………………………………………………………………28 IV. DAMAGE PATTERNS BY ELEPHANTS AND OTHER WILDLIFE AROUND BANYANG- MBO WILDLIFE SANCTUARY, CAMEROON A. Introduction………………………………………………………………………………41 B. Background……………...………………………………………………………………..43 C. Field Research on Human-Elephant Conflicts at Banyang-Mbo…………………………47 D. Discussion and Management Implications………………………………………………..65 V. CONCLUSIONS……………………………………………………………………………..……68 APPENDIX 1. Study methods for human-elephant conflict research A. Recommendations for research design and methodology………………………………...70 B. Comments on proposed HETF data collection protocol…………………………………..74 APPENDIX 2. References. …………………………………………………………………………...77 3 List of Tables and Figures II. INTRODUCTION Table II.1. Estimates of crop damage by elephants in Africa……………………………………..…..15 Table II.2. Ranking elephants and other wildlife pests in Africa…………………………...……..17-18 Figure II.1. Schematic of factors influencing local tolerance for wildlife pests………..……….……20 III. CASE STUDY: LOCAL RESPONSE TO CROP DAMAGE BY ELEPHANTS AND OTHER WILDLIFE AROUND KIBALE NATIONAL PARK, UGANDA Figure III.1. Map of Kibale National Park, Uganda. …………………………………………..……..22 Figure III.2. Elephant Control in Uganda, 1925-1984………………………………………………..25 Figure III.3. Study sites and zones of chronic elephant conflict around Kibale National Park, Uganda. (1992-1999)…… ………………………………………………………..……27 Figure III.4. Distribution of farm size in 5 villages around Kibale National Park, Uganda……….…30 Table III.1. Crop damage by animals in farms neighboring Kibale National Park, Feb-Aug 1999…..32 Figure III.5. Area damaged by wildlife and livestock in 3 villages around Kibale National Park, Feb-Aug 1999………………………………..………………………………………….33 Figure III.6. Direct costs of crop damage by the worst 5 animals on farms neighboring Kibale National Park, Feb-Aug 1999………………………………..……………………….…35 Figure III.7. Total direct costs of crop damage in 51 farms neighboring Kibale National Park Feb-Aug 1999………………………………..………………………………………….36 Figure III.8. Frequency of elephant forays as a function of distance from the boundary of Kibale National Park, 1992-4, 1999……………………………………………………..….…..37 Figure III.9. Percentile plot comparing size of active and abandoned farms……………………..…..39 IV. CASE STUDY: DAMAGE PATTERNS BY ELEPHANTS AND OTHER WILDLIFE AROUND BANYANG-MBO WILDLIFE SANCTUARY, CAMEROON Figure IV.1 Map of Banyang-Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary, South-West Cameroon. ……………………42 Figure IV.2 1986 Landsat MSS image of the Banyang-Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary, Cameroon. ………45 Figure IV.3 Distribution of agricultural lands between villages and the Banyang-Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary, Cameroon. ………………………………………………………………….……48 Figure IV.4 Villages with chronic elephant damage re: Nchanji and Lawson (1998)………..50 4 List of Tables and Figures (cont.) Figure IV.5 Locations of elephant and buffalo damage reported during the pilot study (February – April, 1999). ……………………………………………………...………….…52 Figure IV.6 Villages selected for the long-term crop monitoring study (June – October, 1999). ……58 Table IV.1: Crop damage by wildlife around Banyang-Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary, June – October 1999…………………………………………………………………………..……60 Table IV.2: Amount of damage by crop type, Banyang-Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary, June – October 1999……………………………………………………………………………..…61 Figure IV.7 Monthly pattern of wildlife damage to crops at Banyang-Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary, Cameroon (June – October 1999). …………………………………………………………..61 Table IV.3: Crop damage according to field condition, Banyang-Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary, June – October 1999…………………………………………………………………62 Table IV.4: Crop damage by buffalo gathered during the opportunistic data collection (June 1999 – October 1999). …………………………………………………………...……62 Figure IV.8 Crop damage by cane rats and other wildlife as a function of distance from villages. …………………………………………………………………………..……63 Figure IV.9 Locations of buffalo damage reported during the long-term crop monitoring study (June – October, 1999). ……………………………………………………………...………64 5 I. INTRODUCTION A. Overview Few animals elicit such drastically different human emotions as do elephants. Elephants capture the imagination and unswerving affection of people worldwide, but inspire animosity and fear among those sharing their land with these huge animals. Field reports from across Africa describe local antipathy to elephants beyond that expressed for any other wildlife. People living in central African forests “fear and detest” elephants (Barnes 1996:77). Farmers in Zimbabwe display “ingrained hostility” to elephants who are the “focus of all local animosity toward wildlife” (Wunder 1997:314,316). Rural Ugandans complain bitterly about elephants, except where they have been eradicated (Hill 1998; Naughton-Treves 1997), and in Burundi, farmers still dread elephants years after the country’s last were killed (A. Weber, WCS, pers. comm.). This animosity is an ominous sign for future elephant survival, particularly given the trend toward decentralized wildlife management throughout Africa. Under current conditions, most local farmers would eliminate elephants from their environment if given the choice. Conservationists must find ways to raise public tolerance of elephants, and this requires a better understanding of elephants as ‘pests’. Do local complaints match the economic impact of elephants on agricultural communities? Why does human-elephant conflict appear to be intensifying even though elephant numbers have declined dramatically across the continent? How can we protect vulnerable individuals from the costs of wildlife while maintaining elephants for regional and global benefits? In this report, we analyze the social and physical factors that shape local attitudes to African elephants. Our aim is to provide a broader view of the sociopolitical and ecological dimensions of human-elephant conflict. We confirm that elephants pose a serious threat to some members of farming communities, but that in most cases, elephants’ regional economic impact on agriculture is negligible relative to other vertebrate and invertebrate pests. Nonetheless, human-wildlife conflict is a major obstacle to community support for conservation, and the hostility of a vocal minority can undermine regional conservation initiatives (De Boer and Baquete 1998; Gillingham and Lee 1999; Naughton-Treves 1997; Nchanji and Lawson 1998; Newmark et al. 1994). Our analysis is organized around an extensive literature review coupled with two in-depth case studies. First, we survey reports from 15 African countries to explore the physical and social factors that intensify human-elephant conflict. We also draw from the general literature on pests and risk in African peasant agriculture to better understand why some communities may be unable or unwilling 6 to tolerate crop losses. Then we compare elephants to other wildlife pests and examine the spatial and temporal patterns of crop damage by elephants. In our literature review we find that the database on crop damage amounts and