Towards Human-Elephant Coexistence in the Ruaha Ecosystem An assessment of human-elephant interactions, elephant corridors, and community views around Ruaha National Park, Tanzania Contact Southern Tanzania Elephant Program PO Box 2494, Iringa www.stzelephants.org [email protected] Wildlife Connection PO Box 184, Iringa www.thewildlifeconnection.org [email protected] Contributors Authors Josephine Smit, STEP Dr. Trevor Jones, STEP Jenipha Mboya, STEP Rehema John, STEP Hannah Shaw, Wildlife Connection Sarah Maisonneuve, Wildlife Connection Mapping Frank Lihwa, STEP Data collection Kephania Mwaviko, STEP Jenipha Mboya, STEP Athumani Mndeme, STEP Kennedy Everson Richard Laizzer Felisto Kabonyela, Wildlife Connection Kessi Kaundama, Wildlife Connection Isacka Lemu, Wildlife Connection Faraja Gwivaha, Wildlife Connection Cover photo credits Top: T. Jones (STEP); Bottom: F. Kabonyela (WC) Copies of this report Summary versions of this report in Swahili and English are available on request from STEP & Wildlife Connection and at: www.stzelephants.org/publications-news/articles-reports. High resolution versions of the maps in this report are available from STEP on request. Citation Southern Tanzania Elephant Program and Wildlife Connection. 2016. Towards Human-Elephant Coexistence in the Ruaha Ecosystem: An assessment of human-elephant interactions, elephant corridors, and community attitudes around Ruaha National Park, Tanzania. Unpublished technical report. Funding This report is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), via a sub-grant from the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Southern Highlands and Ruaha-Katavi Protection Program (SHARPP). The contents are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. About the Southern Highlands and Ruaha-Katavi Protection Program (SHARPP) SHARPP is a five-year program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) which is being implemented by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in partnership with the Government of Tanzania, local NGOs, and local communities. The focus of SHARPP includes four key areas: wildlife management areas (WMAs); livelihoods; habitat management; and elephant monitoring and protection. 1 Contents i. Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................... 5 ii. Organization Profiles .................................................................................................................. 9 iii. Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................................... 9 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 10 1.1 Human-Elephant Interactions in Tanzania ................................................................................... 10 1.2 Human-elephant Interactions in the Greater Ruaha Ecosystem ................................................ 11 1.3 Assessment purpose and objectives ............................................................................................ 13 2. Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 14 2.1 Study Area ..................................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.1 Questionnaire Interviews .......................................................................................................... 15 2.2.2 Phone Interviews ....................................................................................................................... 16 2.3 Methods for Northern Villages .................................................................................................... 16 2.4 Expert consultations ..................................................................................................................... 17 3. Results ..................................................................................................................................... 18 3.1 Human-Elephant Interactions (HEI) ............................................................................................. 18 3.2 Mitigation ...................................................................................................................................... 42 3.3 Elephant Movements and Corridors ..................................................................................... 47 3.4 Attitudes Towards Elephants and Protected Areas ............................................................... 52 4. Options for Enhancing Human-Elephant Coexistence ................................................................. 57 4.1 Mitigation of Human-Elephant Conflict ....................................................................................... 57 4.2 Priority Areas for Mitigation ........................................................................................................ 61 5. References ............................................................................................................................... 65 6. Appendices .............................................................................................................................. 67 2 List of Tables Table 1: Human context in different districts surveyed .......................................................................... 12 Table 2: Summary of major human-elephant interactions in the study area ......................................... 19 Table 3: Perceptions of elephant impacts in 28 villages (questionnaire survey) .................................... 20 Table 4: Village leaders’ perceptions of elephant impacts in 46 villages (phone survey) ...................... 20 Table 5: Villages in Idodi and Pawaga Divisions where elephant incidents were reported in 2015 ....... 23 Table 6: Elephant impacts in 20 villages that perceived problems with elephants (phone survey) ....... 25 Table 7: When crop-loss events began in 15 villages .............................................................................. 28 Table 8: Trends in crop-loss events in 15 villages ................................................................................... 30 Table 9: Human-elephant interactions by month in southern monitoring area, January to July 2016 .. 34 Table 10: Peak times in crop losses in 15 villages experiencing elephant crop losses ........................... 36 Table 11: Wildlife mentioned as threats to crops in 13 surveyed villages reporting crop losses ........... 39 Table 12: Agricultural threats and crop losses in 13 villages that experience crop losses ..................... 39 Table 13: Crop-protection methods of farmers in 15 villages experiencing crop losses ........................ 42 Table 14: Patterns of reporting crop losses and assistance received in 13 villages ............................... 45 Table 16: Review of previously known elephant corridors in the southern Ruaha landscape ............... 48 Table 15: Reported elephant movements in the southern study area ................................................... 49 Table 17: “How do you feel about protecting elephants?” .................................................................... 53 Table 18: “Are there any good things about elephants, or benefits you receive from elephants?” ...... 53 Table 19: “What would you like to see happen to the number of elephants?” ..................................... 54 Table 20: Review of options for mitigating elephant impacts ................................................................ 57 Table 21: Northern villages experiencing elephant impacts ................................................................... 61 Table 22: Human-elephant interactions in southern monitoring area, January-July 2016 .................... 62 Table 23: Elephant impacts in 15 villages reporting crop losses in southern study area........................64 3 List of Figures Figure 1: Map showing severity of elephant incidents for 109 surveyed Tanzanian districts .................. 10 Figure 2: Map of study area showing districts and area surveyed by STEP and Wildlife Connection ..... 14 Figure 3: Map showing data collection methods used for this assessment ............................................. 17 Figure 4: Map showing forms and distribution of human-elephant interactions in the study area ......... 18 Figure 5: Perceptions of impacts of elephants on people in southern study area ................................... 21 Figure 6: Why does your village not experience problems with elephants? (Questionnaire survey) ...... 22 Figure 7: Why does your village not experience problems with elephants? (Phone survey) ................... 22 Figure 8: Frequency of reported elephant crop-loss events, in the four affected villages, during 2015 .. 24 Figure 9: What problems do elephants cause? (Questionnaire survey) ................................................... 24 Figure 10: What problems do elephants cause? (Phone survey) .............................................................. 25 Figure 11: Map showing villages reporting crop-loss events by elephants.. ............................................ 26 Figure 12: When did the village first experience