ABSTRACT
Globally, human-wildlife conflict is increasing due to increased encroachment by
human populations into natural habitats. The hippopotamus (Hippopotamus
amphibious) is often involved in human-wildlife conflict in Africa. This conflict is a
major threat to hippos, which are classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN. Nigeria, the
most populous country in Africa, has a relatively small number of hippos – estimated
at 300 individuals. I investigated the perceptions and attitudes of local people toward
a resident population of hippopotami in the Kiri Dam reservoir on the Gongola River
in northeastern Nigeria. I used semi-structured interviews (n = 3) with government
officials and key informants and questionnaires (n = 69) with residents in two
villages (Kiri and Baban Daba). I found that very few respondents (7%) saw benefits
to the presence of hippos in the area, while nearly all respondents said hippos cause
problems, such as damaging crops, disrupting fishing, and threatening lives. Chisquare tests and logistic-regression analysis showed that respondents who did not
favor the protection of hippos or prefer their presence in the area were likely to be
viii
residents who had farms along the river, particularly maize farms. Although most
people have negative opinions of hippos, local residents do not actively hunt hippos,
and most residents are aware of laws against killing hippos. Future research should
concentrate on hippo crop-raiding behavior in relation to crop location and crop type.
In addition, conservation efforts may benefit from this research, as well as awareness
campaigns about living near hippos, small-scale ecotourism, and fencing to protect
people.
Keywords: Africa, agriculture, attitudes, conservation, crop raiding, Hippopotamus
amphibious, human-wildlife relations, perceptions
ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CERTIFICATION………………………………………………………………………………………………….. ii
READERS’ APPROVAL………………………………………………………………………………………..iii
DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …………………………………………………………………………………….. v
ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. vii
LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………………………………………….. x
LIST OF FIGURES ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. xi
INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 1
HYPOTHESES, AIMS, & OBJECTIVES ……………………………………………………………. 9
CHAPTER 2…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 10
METHODS…………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 10
Study Site……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 10
Data Collection & Analysis………………………………………………………………………………….. 12
Ethical Guidelines……………………………………………………………………………………………. 14
CHAPTER 3…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 15
RESULTS …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 15
Respondent Characteristics………………………………………………………………………………….. 15
Knowledge about Hippos……………………………………………………………………………………… 16
Advantages & Disadvantages of Hippos ………………………………………………………………… 16
Protection & Conservation of Hippos ……………………………………………………………………. 17
CHAPTER 4…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 20
DISCUSSION……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 20
CHAPTER 5…………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 23
CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 23
APPENDIX I………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 24
APPENDIX II……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 25
APPENDIX III……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 26
APPENDIX IV ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 31
REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 32
x
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1a. Statistically significant categorical variables related to whether respondents
thought hippos should be protected (n = 68) ……….……….……….……….………….18
Table 1b. Statistically significant categorical related to whether respondents preferred the
presence of hippos in the Kiri reservoir (n = 49) .……….…… .……….……….………18
Table 2. Coefficient estimates of the parameter age in a logistic regression model.……….19
xi
LIST OF FIGURES
Fig. 1. Hippos are mega-herbivores that consume primarily grass. However, they
are known to raid crops, especially at night when they are most active………….….5
Fig. 2. Problem hippo killed at the Dadin-Kowa Dam, Gombe State, August 2015…7
Fig. 3. Settlements along Kiri reservoir, adjacent to the Kiri Dam…………………10
1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Because interactions between humans and wildlife have played a role in the
evolution of humankind, conflicts between humans and wild animals have been in
existence since they have shared resources and landscape (Lamarque et al., 2009).
Ancient humans were hunter-gatherers, and they relied on nature such as plants and
animals surrounding them. Humans and wild animals interacted in various ways; for
example, wildlife was a major source of food (protein) for human populations. The
interests of humans and those of wildlife often clash, however, resulting in negative
interactions. Such interactions between humans and wildlife are often referred to as
human-wildlife conflict.
Human-wildlife conflict results from competition between human and wildlife
populations over space or resources (Lamarque et al., 2009), such as when the
requirements of human populations overlap with the requirements of wildlife
populations (IUCN, 2005). Although the word “conflict” has various meanings, the
way “conflict” is defined and understood determines the nature of human-wildlife
conflict. Human-wildlife conflict often reflects a struggle between two or more
parties or groups over some perceived wanted factors, resulting from differences in
actions of the parties involved (Onuoha, 2008). An example of such is the struggle
over crops between elephants (Loxodonta africana) and farmers (De Boer &
Baquete, 1998; Geoffrey, 2015; Granados & Weladji, 2012; Naughton, Rose, &
Treves, 1999; Nyhus & Tilson, 2004; Vidya & Thuppil, 2010; Warner, 2008), when
elephants raid farms and damage or destroy crops cultivated by farmers.
2
The major forces driving human-wildlife conflict differ from one location to another,
but when studied as a whole, these forces can be classified into two categories: 1)
factors attributed to human population growth and human activities, and 2) factors
related to an increase in wildlife abundance. Human population growth is at the core
of most environmental problems, as well as a major cause of negative humanwildlife interactions. This is particularly so in Africa, which has the fastest
population growth in the world; more than half of the world population growth
between now and 2050 is expected to come from Africa (UN, 2015). One African
nation, Nigeria, is the 7th most populous country in the world, and it is expected to
be the third largest country in the world by 2050 (UN, 2015).
Human population growth results in the conversion of forests, savannas, and other
ecosystems into agricultural sites and urban cluster (Distefano, 2005). Wildlife is
thus affected by habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation. Animal populations
grow only when there are resources to sustain them; human populations are not an
exception to this rule. The increasing human demand for meat is one reason for a
global increase in domestic livestock populations. This growth may lead to
competitive exclusion of wild herbivores. Increasing human population growth in
Africa has led to human encroachment into wildlife habitats, restricting species into
smaller and fewer habitat patches and fueling competition with local communities
(Distefano, 2005). This means that wildlife more often comes into contact with
humans, and this leads to increased conflict.
Conflict between human and wildlife come in different forms. The most common
forms attacks on humans, crop raiding, and property destruction by wildlife
3
(Lamarque et al., 2009). Negative human-wildlife interactions have impacts and
consequences. Crop destruction, where wild animals consume, trample, or otherwise
damage crops, is the most prevalent problem posed by human-wildlife interaction
across Africa (Lamarque et al., 2009). One of the major impacts of crop raiding is
that it threatens local people’s source of food for both subsistence and commercial
needs (Quirin & Dixon, 2012).
In Rwanda, forest-dwelling primates, especially the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes)
and Cercopithecus monkeys, caused an average 10-20% loss in household income as
a result of crop raiding (McGuinness & Taylor, 2014). In a study carried out in four
villages in Uganda, 11 species of large vertebrate damaged 6.1 km
2
over three
farming seasons (Webber & Hill, 2014). The elephant and common hippopotamous
(Hippopotamus amphibious) are the most destructive crop raiders in Africa. They
particularly affect the livelihoods of subsistence African farmers because they cause
significant damage (Lamarque et al., 2009). Farmers find it difficult to deal with
raiding by elephants and hippos because these animals are large; aggressive; and, in
the case of hippos, nocturnal. They cause highly visible damage, and governments
provide little or no compensations in most cases (Lamarque et al., 2009). Even
though reports of crop raiding by elephants and hippos are common, the damage
caused by smaller mammals, such as baboons (Papio spp.), bush pig
(Potamochoerus porcus), and monkeys (Cercopithecus spp.), may be even greater.
Compared to hippos, for instance, these species are less conspicuous, and thus
reports of raiding by these smaller mammals might be underreported (Dunham,
Ghiurghi, Cumbi, & Urbano, 2010; Granados & Weladji, 2012).
4
Crop-raiding activities by wildlife are also a major obstacle to wildlife conservation
efforts, affecting both unprotected and protected areas. In Yankari Game Reserve in
northeastern Nigeria, crop raiding by elephants in villages surrounding the reserve
poses the biggest challenge to conservation of animals in the reserve (Geoffrey,
2015). In response to destruction caused by the elephants, for instance, communities
living around the reserve retaliate by killing elephants.
At times, wild animals directly attack humans, and these attacks may result in
injuries or even death. Both carnivorous species, such as lions (Panthera leo), and
herbivorous species, such as hippos, attack humans. In Africa, crocodiles
(Crocodylus spp.), lions, elephants, and hippos pose the most serious threat to human
lives (Lamarque et al., 2009). Until 2011, hippos accounted for one-quarter of all
deaths caused by wildlife across the continent (Kendall, 2011). Today, attacks by
crocodiles are more common and account for the most deaths caused by large
animals in Africa. It has been suggested that the increasing number of attacks by
crocodiles is due to the abundance of crocodiles across the continent (Lamarque et
al., 2009). In Mozambique, 118 people are killed by wildlife every year on average,
and crocodiles are responsible for two-thirds of these deaths (Dunham et al., 2010).
Property destruction by wildlife can also lead to human-wildlife conflict. Crocodiles
attack and consume livestock, for example, thus leading to loss of a food and income
source for local people (Treves & Naughton-Treves, 1999). In Mozambique, one
study showed that, in decreasing order of magnitude, lions, crocodiles, hyenas, and
elephants killed 301 livestock animals (Dunham et al., 2010). In addition, wildlife
can disturb economic activities such as fishing, and crop raiding may lead to smaller
5
crop harvests and thus loss of income (DeBoer & Baquete, 1998; Granados &
Weladji, 2012; Hill, 2015; Pérez & Pacheco, 2006; Thapa, 2010). These economic
impacts are augmented by social costs. For example, children may stay home from
school to guard farms, and both children and adults may lose sleep to stay up a night
to watch over farms (Barua, Bhagwat, & Jadhav, 2013).
Although crocodiles are currently responsible for more human deaths than are
hippos, hippos more often raid crops (Fig. 1). Regardless, hippos are dangerous
animals that pose a threat to human populations living or working near them,
especially along rivers where hippos occur (Dunham et al., 2010). Attacks by hippos
are not often deliberate; these attacks tend to occur when humans are protecting their
crops, when humans encounter an animal on their pathway or near water in the night,
or when humans come in contact with injured animals or whose sense is impaired
(Lamarque, et al., 2009). Hippos can cause substantial damage to crops when raiding
Fig. 1. Hippos are mega-herbivores that consume primarily grass. However, they are known
to raid crops, especially at night when they are most active. Photo: Dreamscope Photography
6
farms at night. Humans may react by killing the specific problem animals or hunting
any of the animals to retaliate or reduce the total population of the animals (Kendall,
2011). Hippos, in addition to elephants and crocodiles, are thus the most frequently
killed animals as a result of conflict (Dunham et al., 2010). For example, the ratio of
hippos killed to the number of their human victims is one of the highest relative to
ratios for other wildlife. For every human killed by a hippo, 2.3 hippos are killed by
people (Dunham et al., 2010).
In terms of their ecological impact, hippos have both positive and negative effects.
For example, they may damage water resources, hippos are known to contaminate
drinking water with organic matter, or transmit diseases to humans and livestock.
Hippos have been associated with the spread of anthrax in Queen Elizabeth and Lake
Mburo National Parks in Rwanda (Wafula, Patrick, & Charles, 2007). On the other
hand, the large body size of hippos makes them important key players in ecosystems;
they create habitat for small species and are a keystone species (Mosepele, Moyle,
Merron, Purkey, & Mosepele, 2009, as cited in Mason, 2013). Daily movement of
hippos from water to land form paths creating an avenue through which water flows
during the dry season. During droughts, these flooded paths turn to lagoons and side
pools that provide habitat to small fishes. Hippos are also known to be important
vectors, transporting millions of tons of organic matter from their feeding ground to
aquatic water annually; this organic matter improves the performance of some of the
aquatic animals and plants in the water (McCauley et al., 2015).
In Nigeria, hippos face increasing pressure due to the country’s rapidly growing
human population, coupled with increasing habitat loss and degradation, pollution,
7
and other threats. The distribution of hippos in Nigeria is restricted to the drier
northern region (Lewison & Oliver, 2008), including Yankari Game Reserve in
Bauchi State (Geoffrey, 2015), Dadin Kowa Dam in Gombe State (Umar, 2015), and
Kiri Dam in Adamawa State (Igidi, 2014). In the Kiri Dam area, some local
communities reported the destruction of farms, disturbance of fishing activities, as
well as injuries and killings caused by hippos, and the government then gave
permission to kill problem animals (Igidi, 2014). In August 2015, news media
reported that the Nigerian military killed a problem hippo in Dadin-Kowa Dam after
local people complained to the state government that the hippo killed people and
destroyed crops and fishing tools (Umar, 2015) (Fig. 2).
Populations of hippos have declined by
the range of 7 to 20% over the last
decade as a result of habitat loss and
illegal and unregulated hunting for meat
and ivory, as estimated by IUCN Redlist
(Lewison & Oliver, 2008). Following the
international ban on elephant ivory in
1989, illegal trading in hippo ivory
sharply increased: Between 1991 and
1992, 27,000 kg of hippo teeth were
exported; this is double the amount
exported in 1989 and 1990. The
dependence of hippos on freshwater also makes them more vulnerable to habitat loss
given the increasing pressure on and demand for freshwater across Africa (Cosgrove
Fig. 2. Problem hippo killed at the DadinKowa Dam in Gombe State, August 2015.
Photo: Bima Ismail
8
& Rijsberman, 2000). Consequently, hippos are now classified as a threatened
species and were listed as Vulnerable in 2006 (Lewison & Oliver, 2008).
Using mixed social research methods, I investigated hippo-human conflict at the Kiri
Dam reservoir in Adamawa State. My goal was to determine the perceptions and
views of hippos by local people living around the Kiri reservoir. I sought to better
understand how local communities view and respond to problems caused by hippos
and whether they perceived any benefits due to the presence of hippos. In addition, I
made comparisons with a similar study conducted in the area in 2007 (Teneke,
2007). Finally, I intended this study to contribute to the mitigation measures to
reduce hippo-human conflict at the Kiri Dam reservoir and to improve protection of
the hippo population at this site
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