Patterns of crop-raiding by wild and domestic animals near Gashaka Gumti National Park, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper examines crop damage by mammals and the farmers' experiences of crop losses around Gashaka village on the south-western border of Gashaka Gumti National Park, Nigeria. Data were collected via a weekly count of damaged maize crops in 23 fields in the wet season and 30 in the dry season. We examined: (i) seasonal frequency and extent of damage, (ii) losses experienced relative to expected gains, and (iii) aspects of fields in relation to their susceptibility to raiding. Cows caused the greatest amount of damage during the year. Tantalus monkeys were the wild species that caused the most damage. The experience of individual farmers varied from no damage to complete loss of an entire season's crop. Currently the only apparent certainty in predicting losses for farmers was that those farmers with fields closer to wildlife refuges are more likely to experience greater losses. The importance of domestic animal crop damage should not be underestimated in its impact on farmers' livelihoods. Management of crop-raiding in general requires an integrated approach taking domestic animals into account. Pro-active guarding is suggested as having potential to reduce crop losses in Gashaka.

Keywords:

• Baboons
• mammals
• human – wildlife conflict
• farmers
• crop-raiding

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by Roehampton University (UK) and took place at the Gashaka Primate Project (Nigeria), which received funding from the North of England Zoological Society and the Leakey Foundation. Further financial assistance was from the Primate Society of Great Britain, NUMICO Research B.V., the British Federation of Women Graduates and the International Federation of Animal Welfare. Support for the project was given by the National Parks Service (Nigeria), the Nigerian Conservation Foundation and the World Wide Fund for Nature (UK). We are extremely grateful to Volker Sommer for all his support for this research and Ann MacLarnon for her support and comments on previous versions of this work. Dr Catherine Hill (Oxford Brookes University) has given financial and intellectual assistance. We thank Matt McLennan and three anonymous reviewers for providing suggestions that greatly improved this manuscript.