Human-Baboon Conflict on Resettled Farms in Zimbabwe: Attitudes and Perceptions among Local Farmers

Abstract

As human populations expand into areas where wildlife exists, competition for resources and confrontation arises as a result. Some parts of rural Zimbabwe are typical of this problem especially in newly resettled areas. The aim of this survey was to examine the impact of crop raiding and livestock depredation by baboons (Papio ursinus Kerr) on farmers living around the edge of Makumbiri mountains in Concession, Mazowe District in Mashonaland Province of Zimbabwe. The survey was conducted from January to mid-April 2018 using a set of structured questionnaires complemented with field survey, focus group discussion and in-depth interviews. Fifty-nine crop fields were surveyed and forty newly resettled farmers within the five villages surrounding the mountains were interviewed. The purpose was to elicit information on their experiences with crop/livestock losses incurred from baboons, and to quantify these losses as well as to evaluate their attitudes and perceptions towards the baboons and their mitigation strategies towards their losses. Apart from maize, some respondents (20%) reported that other crops raided were vegetables and other small grains such as rapoko (30%). About 62.9% of the respondents indicated livestock losses by baboons during the 2017 cropping season. The total maize crop destroyed in each field was compared with the total estimate of the crops grown in that field producing an average percentage loss of 0.11%. The χ2 test showed that there was no relationship between the level of crop destruction and the distance from the edge of the forest (χ2= 4110, df = 58, p= 0.086). Many (62.5%) farmers felt that baboons were retarding their success as a community but many opted to coexist with baboons. Although baboons are vermin in a society relying on subsistence agriculture, their impact is perceived to be overly moderate. Peaceful coexistence between humans and baboons seems to be the favoured conservation strategy.