Knowledge of birds of conservation interest among the people living close to protected areas in Serengeti, Northern Tanzania

Figures & data

Figure 1. Map of the Serengeti ecosystem indicating the protected areas and villages that are contiguous with the Serengeti ecosystem where the survey was conducted. Oval shapes on the map indicate the villages surveyed.

Table 1. Percentage of respondents who recognised the species in question, those who did not, or those who had only seen the species (total number of respondents: n = 330)

Species (scientific name)	Respondents who recognised the birds (%)	Respondents who did not recognise the birds (%)	Respondents who had only seen the birds (%)
Helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris)	96.4	0	3.6
Marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumeniferus)	81.2	13.3	5.5
Ostrich (Struthio camelus)	80.9	14.5	4.5
Secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius)	76.7	18.2	5.2
Southern ground hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri)	73.0	22.1	4.8
Martial eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus)	70.3	25.5	4.2
Kori bustard (Ardeo tiskori)	56.7	39.7	3.6
Lilac-breasted roller (Coracias caudata)	47.9	46.7	5.5

Table 2. General ability to recognise all eight species of birds in relation to gender

Gender	Perfect ability (7 or 8 birds known), (%)	Good ability(4–6 birds known), (%)	Poor ability(1–3 birds known), (%)	Total no. of respondents
Men	56.0	28.4	15.6	257
Women	24.7	31.5	43.8	73

Table 3. Mean age of respondents with different levels of recognising the eight selected birds in the Serengeti ecosystem

General ability to recognise all birds based on age	Mean age	SD	Total no. of respondents
Perfect ability	41.2	14.6	162
Good ability	40.6	16.5	96
Poor ability	33.5	13.4	72
Total	39.4	15.2	330

Table 4. General knowledge of the eight selected birds according to tribe and education level

Tribe	Perfect ability (%)	Good ability (%)	Poor ability (%)	Total no. of respondents
Maasai	80.4	7.5	12.1	107
Ikoma	56.8	35.8	7.4	95
Sonjo	55.6	11.1	33.3	9
Other tribes	20.0	33.3	46.7	15
Kurya	13.5	46.2	40.4	104
Education
No education	54.9	18.3	26.8	71
Primary school	48.5	31.2	20.3	202
Secondary school and higher	43.9	35.1	21.1	57

Table 5. General ability to recognise the birds in relation to village distance from the Park boundary

General ability to recognise birds	Distance (km)	SD (N)
Perfect	22.6	9.9 (162)
Good	15.7	9.2 (96)
Poor	16.4	9.1 (72)

Table 6. The results of a linear regression analysis with general ability to recognise eight selected birds as the dependent variable (excluding the pooled ‘other tribe’ group)

Dependent variable	Constant/independent variables	t	β	p-Value
General ability to recognise selected birds	Gender	4.190	0.096	0.001
	Tribe	−5.920	−0.454	0.0001
	Age in years	−2.878	0.003	0.004
	Distance to Park boundary	0.946	0.072	0.345
	Education	0.321	0.016	0.749