BY BYRON ZAMASIYA
Human-wildlife conflict remains a significant problem in Zimbabwe among wildlife reliant communities and those that are adjacent to protected areas.
Smallholder farmers are losing crops, lives are being lost while some
have suffered injuries due to this hazard.
Some smallholder farmers are using mitigation strategies that include
chilli bricks, cattle bomas, lion tracking, vuvuzelas, torches, community
wildlife conservancies, bee-hive boundaries, buffer crops, among others with
varying successes.
In this blog, l focus on the nuisances that smallholder farmers do and
their impact on incidences of human wildlife conflict in the Zambezi Valley.
If these little things are addressed, it is most likely that incidences
of human-wildlife conflict will significantly fall not only in the Zambezi
Valley but across the country.
The
nuisances that communities do
Poorly built kraals for cattle and goats
Livestock, especially goats and cattle, are a significant safety net for
smallholder farmers in wildlife reliant areas.
When the crops fail, the smallholder farmers augment their food supplies
by selling livestock to raise much needed financial resources.
Despite the importance of livestock to household food security, most
smallholders particularly in the Mbire District have poorly built kraals.
Most of them use tree branches with thorns to make what they call a kraal.
Others have kraals made from
poles, but the distance between the poles is too large, making it easy for
predators like lions, hyenas and leopards to fish out their prey easily.
The last group of farmers uses poles that are less than 1.5 metres.
These short poles make it easy for the predators to jump and feast on
the livestock.
Smallholder farmers lack the understanding that when predators such as
lions and hyenas hunt, they rely a lot on the “safety first principle”.
This principle implies that the
predator considers its safety before attacking the prey.
Lions and hyenas would not attack livestock when their safety is very
compromised.
This means that a poorly built kraal would easily enable a predator to
attack the livestock.
Likewise, a well-built kraal will deter an attack by predators.
Trusting the “gods” to take care of livestock during the night
Those who have been to Mbire district know very well that if you go there
after 7 PM, your biggest challenge is livestock sleeping on the roads.
The presence of goats on the roads at night clearly suggests that most
smallholder farmers do not care where their livestock would be especially
during the night.
It may also mean that those particular farmers do no treat either cattle
or goats farming as business.
If they, who would risk letting their huge investments roam on the roads
where there is a high risk of attack by predators?
When livestock roams on the roads
at night, it is highly likely that predators such as lions, leopards and hyenas
will attack the livestock.
Under such circumstances, even the Mbire “gods” are unable to protect
the livestock.
The practice also exposes the livestock to the risk of being stolen by
itinerant livestock
buyers.
Poor siting of chilli buffer strings
Smallholder farmers are reporting that chilli buffer strings have a very
positive effect on reducing incidences of HWC in the Zambezi Valley.
The chilli buffer strings are made from tobacco twine dipped in a
mixture of grounded bird’s eye chillies and used oil.
The string is usually tied to two or more trees across a wildlife trek
at least 200m-1000m away from the farmer’s fields.
The string is usually dipped
again in the chilli and used oil mixture every two weeks if it’s not raining
and weekly if it’s raining.
The idea behind the chilli strings is that elephants in particular
observe boundaries.
Once they smell the chilli and oil on the string, they will reroute.
Elephants are also known to respect boundaries.
Wildlife such as warthogs and elands are also chased away by the smell
of ground chillies and used oil. As such, tying chilli strings across wildlife
treks has the effect of diverting their routes thus sparing the smallholder
farmers’ fields.
Since the chilli string is tied at least 200m-1000m away from the crop
field, the elephants would not be violent since they would not have seen any
crops.
The strings are usually used during the crop growing season until the
farmer harvests their crops.
However, most smallholder farmers who use chilli buffer strings continue
to use the strings even after harvesting their crops.
While the smallholder farmers may enjoy some success as the elephants
and other wildlife divert their treks, they will eventually get used to the
technology rendering it ineffective.
Once that happens, the cases of HWC will escalate. Other farmers put the
string right at the boundary of the crop field.
This practice is ineffective as the elephants become violent once they
see the crops.
They will not reroute their treks resulting in the destruction of the
crops.
If the farmer is lucky to deter the wildlife with the string that is
right close to the field, the wildlife will vent their frustration in the
neighbouring farmer’s fields where there are no chilli strings.
So, if wrongly used, chilli
buffer strings will escalate incidences of HWC.
Grazing cattle in community wildlife conservancies
Water for livestock drinking is usually the main problem during the dry
seasons for communities residing next to conservancies or those cohabiting with
wildlife.
Although some operators may sink boreholes for communities in the buffer
zone, in most cases, water is scarce for livestock drinking.
The absence of water for livestock drinking results in some communities
illegally grazing their livestock in the conservancy close to water troughs for
wildlife.
When this happens, the smallholder farmers expose their livestock to
attacks by predators such as lions, hyenas, painted dogs and leopards.
While the cases of HWC may be low during the controlled grazing period,
the livestock may trek to the conservancies on their own during the dry season.
It is during that time that the livestock will expose itself to attacks
by predators.
This behaviour of grazing cattle in conservancies increases the chances
of livestock picking zoonotic diseases and escalates incidences of HWC.
Selling cattle to safari operators for use as baits
In some cases, smallholder farmers in wildlife reliant areas sell their
cattle to safari operators for use as baits during the trophy hunting season.
Smallholder farmers find the operators to be a good market for cattle as
they do not have to travel to business centres to complete the transaction.
Some say there are no transaction costs in selling to safari
operators.
The safari operators will slaughter the cattle and use them as baits.
When this happens, predators may get used to the taste of cattle or goats.
As such, they may forget about the wildlife prey, which is difficult to
catch and start preying on domesticated livestock.
When this happens, the cases of HWC will start to increase.
Lack of buffer zones between
communities and conservancies
Buffer zones are a critical part of the communities that are reliant on
wildlife resources.
A buffer zone can be as wide as 1km or more.
In most cases, the demarcation of a buffer zone is done in a
participatory manner with the involvement of communities, council and safari
operators.
Buffer zones provide communities with a source of non-timber forest
products, grazing land, thatch grass, firewood and poles for other household
construction purposes.
However, in some settlements, there are no buffer zones between
communities and conservancies.
There are reports in some areas that communities refused the demarcation
of buffer zones as they felt that this would decimate their fields for crop
production.
The lack of a buffer zone means that communities and wildlife compete
for resources within the conservancy.
Such communities are at high risk of wildlife encroachment which
escalates incidences of HWC.
False problem animal control reports
When communities get sight of wildlife such as elephants, lions, etc.,
close to their homes or fields during the crop growing season, they usually
report these to the councillor and the rural district council and the Zimbabwe
Parks and Wildlife Management Authorities rangers.
However, the reality on the ground is that some communities have now
developed a bad tendency of reporting problem animals when there are none.
Some report that their fields
have been badly destroyed when in fact, such damage does not exist.
Unfortunately, the reports are usually sent straight to the Zimparks head
office or other high-level officials circumventing the local authority and the
ZimParks office.
Several cases that l have heard in Mbire district show otherwise.
Imagine the resources that would have been spent following up on false
reports!
As such, the local ZimParks Office and the RDC may end up not responding
to reports from such wards.
This is because they cannot waste limited resources pursuing such false
reports.
When the community faces a real problem animal challenge in future, the
RDC and ZimParks may not cooperate based on the previous learning.
This would lead to an escalation of incidences of HWC in the wards.
Visiting water holes at a similar
time
Most community members visit water holes most pools or rivers at almost
similar times daily.
This behaviour allows crocodiles to study the patterns and plan its
attacks.
Since crocodiles rarely hunt in winter, they reserve their energy for
the summer season when their hunting season opens.
Due to low energy levels, they use the “make sure principle”.
This means that they only attack the prey when they are very sure that
they will succeed otherwise they will die from wasted energy.
Under such circumstances, crocodiles master the water hole visiting
patterns of community members and time their attacks.
Maintaining similar times for visiting watering holes, therefore,
escalates incidences of HWC.
Given these nuisances, what can communities and stakeholders do to
reduce the incidences of HWC in the Zambezi Valley and other areas with similar
contexts?
In this blog, l recommend the
following solutions:
- Encourage livestock farmers to build strong kraals or adopt bomas
A key strategy to reduce incidences of HWC among wildlife-reliant
communities is to encourage livestock farmers to build strong kraals with poles
that are at least 1.5 metres tall and close to each other.
The poles should not afford the predators a chance to see the livestock.
An alternative is to adopt bomas. With bomas, the predators cannot see
the livestock.
Based on the “safety first principle”, the predators will spare the
livestock.
- Encourage farmers not to sell livestock to safari operators for use as
baits
Although the market for cattle brought by safari predators may be
lucrative, the selling of cattle for use as baits is not encouraged.
This is because once predators are introduced to livestock meat, they
may become lazy to hunt and endanger domesticated livestock.
This is particularly the case with lions and hyenas.
- Ensure that buffer zones are marked
Considering the role of buffer zones, communities, the RDC, and the
safari operators must demarcate a buffer zone.
- When reporting problem animals, encourage communities to report the
reality on the ground.
Communities need to learn to report truthfully. Communities should
also learn to follow the right reporting channel for problem animals.
This channel starts with the village head, councillor and then the RDC.
It is the RDC that has to report to ZimParks.
Observing this hierarchy and sending factual reports can help
communities to save the meagre financial resources.
- Restrict the use of chilli buffer strings to the growing season
Smallholder farmers need to understand that effective use of chilli
buffer strings involves adhering to the rules.
During the offseason, the
smallholder farmers need to remove all the chilli string buffers and allow the
wildlife to move freely.
This can help to ensure that when the strings are used, the wildlife
will not get used to them.
- Discourage grazing of cattle in conservancies
Although pastures may be scarce in wildlife reliant communities, the RDC
and traditional leadership structures should ensure that the communities do not
graze their cattle in conservancies.
This helps to maintain the value of the conservancy and reduce
incidences of HWC.
- Break the water hole visiting patterns
Wildlife, such as crocodiles, are very good at studying patterns and
timing their attacks.
Communities should ensure that they break the water hole visiting
patterns.
This helps to disrupt the learning for crocodiles and reduce incidences
of HWC.
Byron Zamasiya, is a natural resources economist at the Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (Zela). This blog first appeared on the Zela website