Human-wildlife conflict is a global issue, which has complex and context-specific causes and dynamics. In the Rift Valley of Kenya, rapid development and subdivision has isolated many protected areas, restricting corridors and resulting in a dramatic increase in human-carnivore conflict. Exacerbating this severe ecological isolation, Lake Nakuru National Park is one of only two fully fenced national parks in Kenya. To better understand how people adjacent to these compact, mostly-fenced protected areas perceive human-carnivore conflict, risks from wildlife, and solutions to such problems, we conducted gender-stratified participatory mapping sessions with 383 people in 17 villages near Lake Nakuru National Park and Soysambu Conservancy. We then incorporated these participatory mapping data with verified livestock attack records, 2770 trap nights of camera trap data on crossings of large carnivores through the national park fence, and GPS collar data from spotted hyenas- a carnivore highly implicated in human-carnivore conflict.
Results/Conclusions
The camera traps showed extremely high levels of activity at the national park fence (between up to 45 wildlife detections per trap night) with large carnivores crossing into the communities each night, and in conjunction with the other datasets has revealed the likely ecological “winner” and “loser” species within and outside of these two ecological islands. Additionally, integrating ecological data with spatially explicit experiences of local communities allowed us to understand how people’s risk perceptions and wildlife experiences map onto verified predation and ecological factors, how conservation fences may be impacting these perceptions and realities, and what steps can be taken toward sustainable management in an increasingly fenced and developed ecosystem.