Human–elephant interactions in areas surrounding the Rungwa, Kizigo, and Muhesi Game Reserves, central Tanzania

Abstract

This study assesses the patterns of crop damage by elephants Loxodonta africana in areas adjacent to the Rungwa, Kizigo and Muhesi Game Reserves in Tanzania. We used a questionnaire survey to collect data from a total of 210 household heads from seven villages, with 30 household heads in each village, during June–August 2015. Proximity was a significant factor influencing losses, with crop farms within < 1 km from the reserves having higher losses, followed by those 1–5 km and > 5 km distant. Most households (81.0%) < 1 km from a reserve reported crop damage whereas those within 1–5 km (65.9%) and > 5 km (20.0%) reported less damage. Most of the losses (79.8%) occurred in the first half of the year (the wet season). Immigrants reported higher average losses to crops than Indigenous respondents. Noise making, flashlights, setting fire around fields and disturbance by shooting were the methods used to deter elephants from entering crop fields. We recommend that communities around these game reserves avoid areas that are < 1 km from the reserve boundary, plant crops such as chilli, use honeybee Apis mellifera fences to deter elephants from their crops, and receive education on available mitigation methods, to help minimize crop losses to elephants.

A pan-African spatial assessment of human conflicts with lions and elephants

“…In all cases, the intersections were carried out so that the classified conflict areas were either adjacent to, or within a distance of 10 km from, the edge of the extended range map layer. We set this distance to consider the wide-ranging behaviour of both lions and elephants, to account for the fact that conflict decreases at greater distances from protected area boundaries 37 , 38 , and to account for the fact that future human pressures will likely increase before conservation actions take place 2 .…”

“…Our analysis combines the most up-to-date information on the distribution of lions and elephants with spatial information on human population density, cropland, and cattle density, as these are considered to be the major drivers of human–wildlife conflict in Africa 4 , 8 . Conflict decreases with distance from protected areas 37 , 38 ; thus, we identify areas on the perimeter of the ranges of lions and elephants that are within 10 km of the highest densities of humans, cattle, and crops. To avoid interrupting ecological processes such as migrations and/or causing unintended consequences to other biodiversity (e.g., habitat fragmentation), we extended the species ranges to include adjacent protected areas that currently lack lions and elephants, but were once part of their historical distribution (Supplementary Fig.…”

Monitoring of Vegetation Disturbance around Protected Areas in Central Tanzania Using Landsat Time-Series Data

“…The savannah has been affected by increased human activity and has experienced a rapid agricultural expansion over the last two decades. This has led to the disruption of the migratory corridor [42] and the shrinking of habitat for species with large home ranges, such as African elephants, thus resulting in human-wildlife conflicts [54].…”

“…The increased disturbance at the edges of PAs reflects the high potential for humanwildlife conflicts. Areas adjacent to the border should be considered less desirable by agro-pastoralists because of severe human-wildlife conflicts [43,54], which account for crop losses as well as livestock and human deaths. In contrast, we observed an increase in human activities close to the border of the RMKGR.…”

“…However, the expansion of agricultural activities at the edges of the PA with a dense elephant population has led to intense human-elephant conflicts and severe damages and losses as well as negative attitudes toward wildlife conservation in the surrounding communities [84]. The number of human-elephant conflicts has increased, particularly near the borders of the ecosystem [54,61]. The Ruaha-Rungwa landscape currently hosts the largest population of elephants in Tanzania, with an extensive forage range stretching beyond the boundaries of the PA into the surrounding zones.…”