Browsing by Author "Kaltenborn, B. P."

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    Animal preferences and acceptability of wildlife management actions around Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
    (Springer Nature, 2006) Kaltenborn, B. P.; Bjerke, T.; Nyahongo, J. W.; Williams, D. R.
    Wildlife management policies are often based on expert perceptions of the ecological importance of certain species and poorly informed perceptions of how public attitudes toward management are formed. Little is known about why preferences vary greatly and how this affects support for management actions. This paper explores preferences for a range of wildlife species among a sample of the rural population adjacent to Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. We also examine the degree of acceptance for alternative management interventions when potentially dangerous animals pose different levels of problems to human beings, and the extent to which these attitudes are related to species preferences. Gender has a significant effect on species preferences. Men like most species better than women. Age has no significant effect, but level of education affects preference level for some species. Species preferences have a positive effect on support for management intervention when dangerous animals cause small or moderate problems to humans, i.e. there is a higher degree of acceptance of problems caused by animals that are well liked. In situations where human life is threatened, species preferences have no effect on preferred management actions. Appreciation of animals is a combination of functional, consumptive and cultural dimensions, and there is no simple link between species preferences and attitudes toward management actions. The local context and concrete experience with wildlife encounters is more important for shaping normative beliefs like attitudes towards management actions than global wildlife attitudes.
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    The nature of hunting around the western corridor of Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
    (Springer Nature, 2005) Kaltenborn, B. P.; Nyahongo, J. W.; Tingstad, K. M.
    In many parts of Africa, illegal hunting is considered the most pressing issue in protected areas. Poaching has remained a persistent problem through the 50 year long history of Serengeti National Park. Around 2 million people live along the borders of the park. Poverty is widespread, and the population is increasing rapidly. In this paper we examine the local perceptions of importance and reasons for hunting, gender differences and opinions about mitigating measures among villagers around Serengeti’s Western Corridor. The data were collected through interviewing 590 persons in eight villages close to the borders of the park. Hunting is driven by the need to not only increase food supply and cash income, but also fulfil cultural and social needs. We also identified a proactive attitude in the rural communities towards reducing illegal hunting and more constructive relationships with the management authorities of the national park. The role of hunting in community life extends beyond the immediate poverty issue, and should be seen as an element in the larger development agenda of rural Tanzania and the quest for models for sustainable wildlife management.
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    Spatial and temporal variation in meat and fish consumption among people in the western Serengeti, Tanzania: the importance of migratory herbivores
    (2009) Nyahongo, J. W.; Holmern, T.; Kaltenborn, B. P.; Røskaft, E.
    Illegal bushmeat hunting has become a serious problem for wildlife managers in many African countries. We investigated the spatial and temporal pattern in meat and fish consumption by people surrounding the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, to understand better the links between hunting and consumption. We studied 150 households in five villages during March–December 2006 along a gradient from the Park boundary to 80 km away. In addition, two parallel 10 km transects were monitored monthly in areas within the National Park immediately adjoining three village areas to investigate the relationship between household meat consumption and the influx of migratory herbivores. We found that the number of meat meals was higher in the villages closest to the Park boundary and the weekly number of meat meals per household in all villages within 30 km of the Park boundary increased with the seasonal influx of migratory herbivores. Meat consumption was unrelated to household income except in the most distant village where there was a positive correlation. The number of fish meals in the villages closest to the Park decreased with the influx of migratory herbivores. We recommend a coordinated management of fish harvesting from Lake Victoria and wildlife conservation around the Serengeti National Park to implement sustainable management of these two ecologically different sources of animal protein.