Livelihood and Season Determine Human‐Carnivore Conflict Around Zakouma National Park, Chad

ABSTRACT

Transhumant pastoralists and their livestock spend the dry season in the floodplains around Zakouma National Park, Chad, where resident people practice mixed farming. We used interview data from 146 households to investigate the differences between these user groups in terms of vulnerability to depredation, attitudes and impact on conservation. Predation by spotted hyaena and disease were the major causes of livestock loss for both cattle and small ruminants, followed by lion depredation and theft. We found that seasonality and livelihood interact in shaping depredation patterns, with the presence of nomads in the dry season attenuating the pressure of depredation on the livestock of resident people, who become more vulnerable in the wet season, when nomads are not present and more wildlife stays outside the Park. Local mitigation techniques were not effective, and 98% of all households suffered hyaena attacks. Only solid enclosures, which were employed uniquely by some villages, mitigated lion depredation. Attitudes varied between groups, with nomads more likely to turn to retaliation in case of depredation. For coexistence, there is a need to differentiate between different resource users with different needs and different attitudes.