Do anthropogenic sources of food increase livestock predation in the area surrounding Ruaha National Park?

Abstract

Summary Wild carnivores are threatened by human activities, particularly by lethal responses to livestock predation. As natural prey populations decline, predation of livestock and consumption of discarded livestock ‘waste’ (carcasses and body parts) should increase. We investigated whether parameters linked to the production of livestock waste affected the likelihood of livestock predation. We interviewed 160 households near Ruaha National Park in Tanzania to obtain information on households, livestock ownership, predation and parameters linked to livestock waste production. Our analysis identified parameters that affected the likelihood of predation on cattle, sheep and goats. When these parameters were controlled for, we found an increased likelihood of cattle predation as waste from diseased and slaughtered cattle increased. Sheep predation was more likely and cattle predation was less likely as sheep deaths from starvation increased. Goat predation was more likely in medium-sized than smaller or larger villages, suggesting a trade-off to predators between the increasing benefit of more livestock waste and the costs of higher human disturbance and diminishing natural prey abundance as village size category increased. Our findings suggest that improved disposal of livestock waste from slaughtered cattle and measures to decrease cattle deaths from disease should reduce predation of highly prized cattle.

Omnivores and browsers are more resilient than mixed feeders and grazers to human induced surface water scarcity in Ruaha National Park, Tanzania

“…Dry season aggregations of mammalian herbivores near sources of surface water are known to attract large carnivores (Hopcraft et al 2005;Harrington et al 1999;Davidson et al 2013) and are associated with seasonal changes in the distribution of lions and leopards in Ruaha NP and surrounding protected areas (Abade et al 2014). A high foraging success during the dry season by large predators within Ruaha NP may explain the decline in cattle predation from wet to dry season reported by households outside the park, at least those close to its eastern boundary (Kalyahe et al 2022). Large mammals are important species for tourism in Ruaha NP, but there is growing evidence that the current loss of dry season flow in the downstream section of the GRR is having a detrimental effect on water dependent large mammals such as the hippopotamus and buffalo (Stommel et al 2016b, Roug et al 2020.…”

Comparative Analysis of Monetary Transaction Cost of Human-Wildlife Conflict in Mt. Kenya and Amboseli Ecosystems, Kenya

“…For example, Nair and Jayson (2021) documented the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) damage to major cash crops including plantain (Musa paradisiaca), rubber (Hevea brasiliensis), areca nut (Areca catechu) and coconut (Cocos nucifera) in Malappuram district in India; in the United State of America, coyotes kill an average of 300,000 head of livestock annually (United States Department of Agriculture-USDA, 2020). Similarly, several studies documented livestock predation around Serengeti and Ruaha National Parks in Tanzania (for example Kalyahe et al, 2022) and Kajiado County in Kenya (for example Manoa & Mwaura., 2016;Manoa et al, 2020b).…”

Illegal Wildlife Trade: Trade Flows of Wildlife Products and Facilitation Methods in the Ruaha Landscape, Tanzania

“…The Greater Ruaha landscape covers about 50,000 km 2 and is one of the most important hotspots for the diversity of wildlife species [33]. The landscape has a large abundance and a rich diversity of wild species [34] [37].…”

“…The area has been estimated to hold over 10% of the lion population [34] [38], and has the largest population of elephants in East Africa [39]. This area has exceptional biodiversity and species endemism and is named as the key area for biodiversity conservation [33]. Ruaha landscape has been reported to have high poaching pressure,…”