African conservationists call for renewed efforts to tackle human wildlife conflict.

Record ID: 84702

  • Title: African conservationists call for renewed efforts to tackle human wildlife conflict.
  • Date: 6th October 2016
  • Summary: LAKE NAKURU NATIONAL PARK, KENYA (FILE) (REUTERS) LION VARIOUS OF BUFFALOS
  • Embargoed: 21st October 2016 18:04
  • Keywords: CITES Human Willdlife Conflict Conservation Wildlife
  • Location: KAJIADO, NAIROBI, TSAVO NATIONAL PARK AND LAKE NAKURU NATIONAL PARK, KENYA/ JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
  • City: KAJIADO, NAIROBI, TSAVO NATIONAL PARK AND LAKE NAKURU NATIONAL PARK, KENYA/ JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
  • Country: Various
  • Reuters ID: LVA00952VAA1J
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:EDITORS PLEASE NOTE, EDIT CONTAINS 4:3 MATERIAL
    African conservationists at the recently wrapped United Nations' Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in South Africa called for renewed efforts to curb human wildlife conflict.
    Some communities have lived near wildlife habitats for generations but reports show that population growth and climate change are exacerbating the conflicts between humans and animals.
    Drought pushes lions, elephants and other wildlife closer to water and vegetation that is also a lifeline for human settlements.
    Here, in Kajiado, within Kenya's Rift Valley, people say they suffer from crop-raiding, damage to property and that wild animals pose a real and constant danger to human life.
    "It is really a problem, every year lions eat cattle here, hyenas eat sheep and sometimes goats are eaten by snakes when they are drinking water in the river. When the buffaloes migrate here to give birth, there is no grass left for our cattle to graze. There are so many issues. One woman recently encountered a buffalo and she was attacked and now she has so many health issues. The animals bring us a lot of problems," said pastoralist John Ngula.
    According to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), communities living in Kajiado county are some of the most affected due to their proximity to the Nairobi and Amboseli National Parks.
    Nairobi National Park, which was established in 1946 gives visitors the chance to see lions, giraffes, zebras and other wildlife against a backdrop of high-rise buildings.
    Conservationists say that work on transport projects aimed at decongesting and developing the city is affecting animal behaviour and leading to increased incidents of wildlife leaving the park in search of quieter hunting grounds.
    This year there have been at least three incidents where lions have strayed from the park and into residential estates in Nairobi and its environs.
    Community representatives are calling on the government to pay as much attention to compensation and protection of people who lose life or property to wild animals as they do to conservation.
    "The human-wildlife conflict, people have died, animals have also died some people also killed the wildlife. Whenever people kill wildlife, the lions and others, cheetahs, people are usually arrested. But when we lose our animals, there is no compensation. We are yet to see anybody who has ever received compensation from the government, for losing their animals or even their lives to wildlife," said wildlife conservationist, Caroline Patita.
    Some of the proposals put forward by African countries at CITES COPE 17 were the practice of conservation hunting, which they say will curb human wildlife conflict but also deter poachers.
    "When we have got an increase in animals you end up having a over abundance of certain species in certain areas, which naturally will than spill over into the communities where people are leaving. Hence the issue of human wildlife conflict. Hunting is one way of controlling those numbers because what we are doing is conservation hunting," said Zimbabwe's Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate in Zimbabwe, Prince Mupazviriho.
    But some conservationists say the practice is unethical and would not help solve the problem.
    "The wildlife of Africa is clearly one of the greatest wealth's of this continent, and what CITES is trying to do, is really to ensure that wildlife populations are sustained, because they have economic value, because if they are over used they can lead to severe poverty and actually security problems," said Janet Himley, Senior Wildlife President for World Wide Fund for Nature.
    Across Africa, a battle against poaching is raging but often being lost. African elephant numbers, for example, fell by 20 percent between 2006 and 2015 because of a surge in ivory poaching.
    There have been some successes.
    Uganda has seen its elephant population recover from 800 in the 1980s after years of chaotic rule and dictatorship to reach about 5,000 now. But officials say poaching is back on the rise.
    The problem is not just big time poachers seeking ivory, which can sell for $1,000 a kilogram ($450 a pound) or more.
    Illegal hunters are sometimes locals seeking meat to eat or sell to pay school fees.
    Killing game, meanwhile, has knock-on effects. It destroys prey chased by carnivores such as lions and leopards, causing their numbers to drop too.
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