Assessing the cost of living with elephants (Loxodonta africana) in areas adjacent to Meru National Park, Kenya

Crop raiding by the elephants is a serious and recurring management problem around protected areas in Kenya such as Meru National Park. Crop-raiding menace is one of the most significant of human–elephant conflicts in Meru National Park. The distribution, impact, and conservation implications of the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of wildlife research 2014-04, Vol.60 (2), p.323-330
Main Authors: Sitienei, Anne J, Jiwen, Ge, Ngene, Shadrack M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Capacity development
Conservation
conservation areas
Crops
Ecology
Elephantidae
Elephants
farms
Fish & Wildlife Biology & Management
Land use
land use change
Life Sciences
Loxodonta africana
National parks
Original Paper
Protected areas
Zoology
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Summary:Crop raiding by the elephants is a serious and recurring management problem around protected areas in Kenya such as Meru National Park. Crop-raiding menace is one of the most significant of human–elephant conflicts in Meru National Park. The distribution, impact, and conservation implications of the increased elephant crop raiding in areas adjacent to Meru National Park is attributed to the changes in land use systems within these areas. Crop raiding by African elephants (Loxodonta africana) was monitored in the area adjacent to Meru National Park between August 2010 and July 2011. From the study, 144 farms were raided and farmers lost crops amounting to USD 120,308.60. Crop raiding was higher during the month of August 2010 (KES 2,714,295 or USD 33,928). The study suggests capacity building for communities in order to safeguard their crops against elephant raiding. Other probable measures put forward to mitigate this include the development of alternative water sources and the need to implement electric fence around the remaining section of the Park boundary which is affected by elephant.
ISSN:1612-4642
1439-0574
DOI:10.1007/s10344-013-0789-5