Local people's knowledge and coexistence with carnivores in the
forest-savannah mosaic of Cameroon
Abstract
Carnivores are threatened across Sub-Saharan Africa mostly due to
retaliatory killing by people, the loss of prey species and their
habitats. Due to their food and space requirements, they regularly come
into conflict with humans. In many regions, information about carnivore
occurrence and human-carnivore conflict remains poorly known
particularly in parts of West-and Central Africa. Here, we assessed the
local ecological knowledge on carnivores and associated conflicts in the
forest-savannah transition zone in Cameroon. We conducted a
semi-structured questionnaire survey with 649 local inhabitants from 23
villages around the Tchabal Mbabo Mountain Range, Yoko Council Forest
and Mpem et Djim National Park. The majority of local people could
easily identify the lions (73.8%, n=479) and correctly named (90.2%,
n=432), whereas other species (e.g. leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, African
wild dogs, as well as the medium-sized carnivores) were identified with
more difficulty. Most respondents (71.3%, n=463) reported depredation
of their livestock, mostly by lions, spotted hyenas, civets and foxes
and half of respondents (50.2%, n=326) reported retaliation against
predators as the main action resorted to protect their livestock. The
use of poisons against wild predators was advocated by some respondents,
an additional threat to wild carnivores. Local people suggested
construction of enclosures (46.4%, n=301) as the most important
mitigation measures. Our study provides baseline information on
carnivore occurrence in Cameroon’s transitional forest savannah
environments and threats to these animals from local people.