Evaluating the determinants of wildlife tolerance in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area in Zimbabwe
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Standard
Evaluating the determinants of wildlife tolerance in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area in Zimbabwe. / Usman, Muhammad Faizan; Le Bel, Sebastien; Grimaud, Patrice; Nielsen, Martin Reinhardt.
In: Journal for Nature Conservation, Vol. 75, 126466, 2023.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
Harvard
APA
Vancouver
Author
Bibtex
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluating the determinants of wildlife tolerance in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area in Zimbabwe
AU - Usman, Muhammad Faizan
AU - Le Bel, Sebastien
AU - Grimaud, Patrice
AU - Nielsen, Martin Reinhardt
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Human-wildlife interaction is a complex issue that has positive as well as negative implications for both humans and wildlife that share the same habitat. In this paper, we used the Wildlife Tolerance Model (WTM) as the theoretical framework to determine the factors that affect tolerance towards the African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana), chacma baboon (Papio ursinus) and spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) among the Tonga indigenous people of Zimbabwe. We used structural equation modeling for the identification of causal pathways to see which variables – namely, exposure, positive and negative interactions, costs and benefits – affect tolerance. Our study finds that intangible benefits are the most significant determinants of tolerance across all three species. Contradictory to the expectations, tangible cost had no effect on the tolerance for any of the three species. We find that reducing exposure would also have a strong mediating effect on tangible and intangible costs from the three species. We discuss the roles that socio-economic and cultural factors play to help explain the differences in communities’ attitudes towards the three species. We conclude that more emphasis should be given to increasing the awareness of the intangible benefits, such as the ecosystem services provided by the species. Finally, we recommend using the WTM to help establish a mitigation strategy for the targeted communities and then conducting a Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) study to evaluate the true impact of those mitigation strategies on the communities’ wildlife tolerance.
AB - Human-wildlife interaction is a complex issue that has positive as well as negative implications for both humans and wildlife that share the same habitat. In this paper, we used the Wildlife Tolerance Model (WTM) as the theoretical framework to determine the factors that affect tolerance towards the African savannah elephant (Loxodonta africana), chacma baboon (Papio ursinus) and spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) among the Tonga indigenous people of Zimbabwe. We used structural equation modeling for the identification of causal pathways to see which variables – namely, exposure, positive and negative interactions, costs and benefits – affect tolerance. Our study finds that intangible benefits are the most significant determinants of tolerance across all three species. Contradictory to the expectations, tangible cost had no effect on the tolerance for any of the three species. We find that reducing exposure would also have a strong mediating effect on tangible and intangible costs from the three species. We discuss the roles that socio-economic and cultural factors play to help explain the differences in communities’ attitudes towards the three species. We conclude that more emphasis should be given to increasing the awareness of the intangible benefits, such as the ecosystem services provided by the species. Finally, we recommend using the WTM to help establish a mitigation strategy for the targeted communities and then conducting a Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) study to evaluate the true impact of those mitigation strategies on the communities’ wildlife tolerance.
KW - Attitudes
KW - Conservation psychology
KW - Human-wildlife conflict
KW - Wildlife management
KW - Wildlife tolerance model
KW - Zimbabwe
U2 - 10.1016/j.jnc.2023.126466
DO - 10.1016/j.jnc.2023.126466
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85166539207
VL - 75
JO - Journal for Nature Conservation
JF - Journal for Nature Conservation
SN - 1617-1381
M1 - 126466
ER -
ID: 363354364