IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Butler, J.R.A. | |
| The economic costs of wildlife predation on livestock in Gokwe communal land, Zimbabwe | |
| 2000 African Journal of Ecology (38): 23-30 | |
In areas bordering wildlife reserves in Zimbabwe, agropastoralists suffer livestock depredation by wild carnivores. However, the economic value of these losses, and therefore the levels of compensation required has never been calculated. Between January 1993 and June 1996 in a 33-km_2 _area of Gokwe communal land bordering the Sengwa Wildlife Research Area, 241 livestock were killed by wild carnivores. Baboons (_Papio ursinus _Kerr), lions (_Panthera leo _Linnaeus) and leopards (_P. pardus _Linnaeus) were the most serious predators, contributing 52 %, 34 % and 12 % of kills, respectively. Baboons only killed young goats (_Capra hircus _Linnaeus) and sheep (_Ovis aries _Linnaeus) by day, while lions and leopards jumped into fortified kraals at night and killed cattle (_Bos indicus _Linnaeus), donkeys (_Equus asinus _Linnaeus) and smallstock. In 1995, predators killed 5 % of livestock holdings, double that recorded by other African studies. The annual total value of losses depended upon the degree of lion predation on the most valuable species, cattle and donkeys. The average annual loss per livestock-owning household was US$ 13, or 12 % of each household's net annual income. Losses could be reduced by improving kraal defences against lion and leopard predation in the dry season, when attacks were most common. |
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