Do carnivore surveys match reports of carnivore presence by pastoralists? A case of the eastern Serengeti ecosystem

Human-carnivore encounters are common where humans and wild carnivores share the same landscape. The frequency of such encounters gives insight regarding carnivore density and might correlate with human-carnivore conflict incidences. We interviewed livestock owners in the eastern Serengeti ecosystem and recorded reported carnivore presence and relative abundance. We simultaneously conducted a carnivore survey to assess the potential variability of reported carnivore presence that was recorded during the surveys. The playback surveys attracted 9 lions (Panthera leo), 88 spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) and 47 black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas schmidti) to 12 call-in stations which were resurveyed three times (36 playbacks in total). Reported encounters with lions, leopards (Panthera pardus), cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), spotted hyenas, African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) and jackals were higher closer to the Serengeti National Park (SNP). Data from carnivore surveys were positively correlated with what people reported in questionnaires. These results indicate that local reports of encounters with wild carnivores may act as an important indicator of carnivore presence. Combining observational data through surveys with data reported by local people in areas where humans and wild carnivores coexist may improve existing data on carnivore abundance and distribution in such areas.publishedVersionThis is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Global Roadkill Data: a dataset on terrestrial vertebrate mortality caused by collision with vehicles

Roadkill is widely recognized as one of the primary negative effects of roads on many wildlife species and also has socioeconomic impacts when they result in accidents. A comprehensive dataset of roadkill locations is essential to evaluate the factors contributing to roadkill risk and to enhance our comprehension of its impact on wildlife populations and socioeconomic dimensions. We undertook a compilation of roadkill records, encompassing both published and unpublished data gathered from road surveys or opportunistic sources. GLOBAL ROADKILL DATA includes 208,570 roadkill records of terrestrial vertebrates from 54 countries across six continents, encompassing data collected between 1971 and 2024. This dataset serves to minimise the collection of redundant data and acts as a valuable resource for local and macro scale analysis regarding rates of roadkill, road- and landscape-related features associated with risk of roadkill, vulnerability of species to road traffic, and populations at risk of local extinction. The objective of this dataset is to promote scientific progress in infrastructure ecology and terrestrial vertebrate conservation while limiting the socio-economic costs

Factors influencing wildlife roadkill in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Northern, Tanzania.

Globally, extension of road network is among the major threats affecting different fauna survival. Roads traversing protected areas, usually harm wildlife species (e.g., wildlife roadkill). Wildlife roadkill is of global conservation concern and has been reported to occur in different protected areas worldwide. Very little information on the problem is currently available in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA). The purpose of this study was to identify factors that affect wildlife roadkill in the NCA. The 82-kilometer main road from Lodoare to Golini served as the study's transects. Data was collected for a duration of one year from July 2021 to June 2022. Vehicle moving with a speed limit of 20km/hr were used during the data collection. The survey started early in the morning from 07:00 am to 06:00 pm and employed both direct and opportunistic encounter observations for recording wildlife roadkill incidences. The results revealed that 85 individual animals belonging to 21 families, i.e., 5 mammalian, 3 reptilian, and 10 bird orders were recorded killed within one year period in the area. These animals comprised 26 different species, which included 10 mammalian, 5 reptilian, and 11 bird species. Moreover, more birds (69.4%) than mammals (18.8%) and reptiles (11.8%) were found killed in the area. Additionally, the night jars (Caprimulgus europaeus; 30.6%) followed by black rat (Rattus rattus; 7.1%) and chameleon (Chamaeleo chamaeleon; 3.5%) were the most frequently recorded killed species in the area. Furthermore, wildlife roadkills did not differ significantly between seasons (p = 0.371) and time of day (e.g., morning vs. afternoon; p = 0.652) but differed significantly between their body size (e.g., small, medium, and large; p < 0.001) and habitat types (e.g., grassland, woodland, shrubland, wooded grassland, forest; p = 0.005). The study recommends punishments and penalties for overspeeding drivers and installing cameras, speed limits, and signboards along the highway to alert drivers to reduce speed. Further, providing regular education to road users on the impacts of roadkill within the ecosystem is critical

Community Opinions about African Wild Dog Conservation and Relocations near the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

Conservation of the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) in human-dominated landscapes faces many challenges. Understanding human opinions of wild dog conservation is important to inform management decisions. Questionnaire surveys, including both open and closed-ended questions, were administered by researchers through face-to-face interviews of 297 respondents in the eastern part of the Serengeti ecosystem between January and February 2012. Our results indicated that most local people believed that wild dogs were extinct in the Serengeti ecosystem. According to the local people, wild dogs should have a high conservation priority. Moreover, tribe and gender are important demographic variables that explain the negative or positive perceptions ofattempts to relocate wild dogs from the Loliondo Game Controlled Area to the Serengeti National Park (SNP). We conclude that future conservation interventions should focus on the interface between community knowledge and modern conservation science.</jats:p

Utilisation of one health approaches in the surveillance and mitigation of risks of animal derived infections in Tanzania: attitudinal profiles of human and animal health experts

Journal ArticleEffective detection, identification, monitoring and control of zoonoses and other animal-derived infections call for embracement of multi- and trans-disciplinary partnership as a means towards optimising the health of humans, animals and their ecosystems. This study was thus aimed at evaluating attitudinal profiles of human, animal and wildlife health experts in Ngorongoro (Manyara Region) and Kibaha (Coastal Region) Districts to this partnered arrangement in dealing with infectious diseases of humans and animals. This was carried out using a structured questionnaire which comprised a 100-point Likert scale on which <60, 60 and 60< points represented unfavourable, neutral and favourable attitudes respectively. The questionnaire was administered to 91 medical, veterinary and wildlife experts in July and August 2012. It was found that, overall, the respondents had positive attitude (64.8%) towards inter-sectoral collaboration. The proportions of the respondents with unfavourable, neutral and favourable attitudes were 22.0%, 8.8% and 69.2%, respectively. The scores by the three categories of experts showed no significant difference (F = 1.428, p = 0.248). This indicates that human and animal health experts value the use of one health approaches in dealing with zoonoses and other animal-derived infections

A Historical Perspective of the Maasai - African Wild Dog Conflict in the Serengeti Ecosystem

&lt;p class="1Body"&gt;This study discusses the conflict between Maasai pastoralists and African wild dogs (&lt;em&gt;Lycaon pictus) &lt;/em&gt;over livestock before and after the Maasai were evicted from the Serengeti National Park (SNP) in 1959. We surveyed 181 randomly selected households from six villages in the eastern Serengeti ecosystem. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to acquire the required information from the respondents. We found that males had a greater awareness of local wild dog presence and livestock-derived conflict than females, and reported more frequently to have chased and killed wild dogs that attacked their livestock. Moreover, the conflict existed before 1959, decreased during the 1990s, but increased from 2000 onwards. This increase is attributed to the growth in human, livestock and wild dog populations in the area. This study recommends that to foster their coexistence, the continued escalation in livestock numbers needs to cease while simultaneously protecting the region’s wild prey populations.&lt;/p&gt;</jats:p

A socio-economic approach to one health policy research in Southern Africa

One-health approaches have started being applied to health systems in some countries in controlling infectious diseases in order to reduce the burden of disease in humans, livestock and wild animals collaboratively. However, one wonders whether the problem of lingering and emerging zoonoses is more affected by health policies, low application of one-health approaches, or other factors. As part of efforts to answer this question, the Southern African Centre for Infectious Disease Surveillance (SACIDS) smart partnership of human health, animal health and socio-economic experts published, in April 2011, a conceptual framework to support One Health research for policy on emerging zoonoses. The main objective of this paper was to identify which factors really affect the burden of disease and how the burden could affect socio-economic well-being. Amongst other issues, the review of literature shows that the occurrence of infectious diseases in humans and animals is driven by many factors, the most important ones being the causative agents (viruses, bacteria, parasites, etc.) and the mediator conditions (social, cultural, economic or climatic) which facilitate the infection to occur and hold. Literature also shows that in many countries there is little collaboration between medical and veterinary services despite the shared underlying science and the increasing infectious disease threat. In view of these findings, a research to inform health policy must walk on two legs: a natural sciences leg and a social sciences on

Ethnozoological uses of wildlife species among the Iraqw people of Mbulu District, Northern Tanzania

Abstract Introduction: The medicinal use of wild fauna has been a common practice for centuries. Human being has developed the knowledge on the exploitation and use of wild fauna for food, clothing, traditional healing and other purposes. Of recent, an interest in ethnozoological studies aiming at discovering new medications for human and animal health has increased. Although the knowledge on medicinal use of wild species is well established in many African tribes, it is rarely documented and thus fading with generations as the elders are more familiar on animals and their uses than young people. This study sought to record and document the traditional use of different wildlife species among the Iraqw people of Northern Tanzania and form a basis for conservation and sustainable use of these species. Method: The study employed semi-structured interview to collect data from 45 key informants who were identified to be knowledgeable and key users of wild animals in three villages namely Endagaw, Mewedan and Ng’wandakw in Mbulu district. Results: The results revealed multiple uses of 28 wild animals whereby 23 were used for food, 10 for medicinal and 5 had ritualistic values of were associated with traditional beliefs. The hare (Lepus microtis), Aardvark (Orycteropus afer), zebra (Equus guaga), ostritch (Struthio camelus), helmeted guinea fowl (Numida meleagris), African honeybee (Apis mellifera scutellate), ring necked dove (Streptopelia capicola), African mourning dove (Streptopelia decipiens), speckled pigeon (Columba guinea) were used for both food and medicine. Fat from baboon (Papio anubis), African elephant dung (Loxodonta africana), and black necked spitting cobra (Naja nigricollis) were used as medicines for treatment of different ailments. Various medicinal uses such as treatment of wound from burn, kneading the pregnant women giving birth, ear pains and squatting the painful muscles. Animals such as Aardvark (Orycteropus afer), Hedgehog (Atelerix albiventris), Bush pig (Potamochoerus larvatus), pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) and owl (Strigiformes spp) had ritualistic value based on traditional beliefs.Conclusion: Traditional knowledge on the uses of wild animals is well established among the elders of the Iraqw community. However, this knowledge is fading with time due to minimal interactions between the youth and nature caused by introduction of formal education, embracing of foreign religions, increased use of pharmaceutical drugs and the declining of wildlife species as a result of habitat loss and overexploitation. We recommend more studies of this kind in order to provide a basis for conservation and sustainable use of wild animals in different parts of Africa and globally.</jats:p

Do carnivore surveys match reports of carnivore presence by pastoralists? A case of the eastern Serengeti ecosystem

Human-carnivore encounters are common where humans and wild carnivores share the same landscape. The frequency of such encounters gives insight regarding carnivore density and might correlate with human-carnivore conflict incidences. We interviewed livestock owners in the eastern Serengeti ecosystem and recorded reported carnivore presence and relative abundance. We simultaneously conducted a carnivore survey to assess the potential variability of reported carnivore presence that was recorded during the surveys. The playback surveys attracted 9 lions (Panthera leo), 88 spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) and 47 black-backed jackals (Canis mesomelas schmidti) to 12 call-in stations which were resurveyed three times (36 playbacks in total). Reported encounters with lions, leopards (Panthera pardus), cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus), spotted hyenas, African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) and jackals were higher closer to the Serengeti National Park (SNP). Data from carnivore surveys were positively correlated with what people reported in questionnaires. These results indicate that local reports of encounters with wild carnivores may act as an important indicator of carnivore presence. Combining observational data through surveys with data reported by local people in areas where humans and wild carnivores coexist may improve existing data on carnivore abundance and distribution in such areas