COS 171-4 - Human-hippopotamus conflicts assessment in vicinities' agricultural landscapes of the pendjari biosphere reserve in northern Benin (West Africa)

Background/Question/Methods

The management of human-wildlife conflict plays a significant role in wildlife conservation for the benefit of both animals and communities living in the vicinity of protected areas. This study seeks to understand human-hippopotamus coexistence and the crop destroyed strategies developed by the local communities outside the Pendjari Biosphere Reserve (PBR) in northern Benin. Data were collected from 2018 to 2019 during the wet season (while farmers were cropping) through semi-structured interviews and informal talks with 192 respondents from different socio-professional backgrounds. Additionally, 139 grids of 2 km x 2 km established in radius of 5 km around the Pendjari Rivers were prospected in order to evaluate the spatial distribution of the hippopotamus crop raiding sites.

Results/Conclusions

With regard to damages incurred, crop raiding was cited as the principal cause of conflict between humans and hippopotamus along the Pendjari River. Three sites were identified along the Pendjari River as the main depredation site, based on the hippopotamus damage recorded on the surrounding crops farms. The most destroyed crops recorded were Oryza sativa (rice), Zea mays (maize), Pennisetum glaucum (pearl millet), Vigna subterranea (Bambara nut). The total losses incurred by local communities living around the Pendjari River from hippopotamus crop raiding from 2018 to 2019 were estimated at 4794.92 $USD. The distance from target farms to Pendjari Biosphere Reserve was the key factor influencing crop raiding by hippopotamus (β= -0.99; p< 0.001). Scarecrow method was the only mitigation method used by local communities around the Pendjari Rivers to cope with hippopotamus damage. Local communities’ perceptions of the benefits of hippopotamus conservation, decrease progressively as moving farther from the PBR (β= -0.99; p< 0.001. Efficient mitigation measures must be promoted or reinforced in the conflict-affected villages and additional income-generating activities, such as tourism, need to be identified and developed to assist local communities living around Pendjari River.