Volume 25, Issue 2, January 2019, Pages 638–644
Etienne M. DOSSOU1, Laurent G. HOUESSOU2, Toussaint Olou LOUGBEGNON3, and Jean Timothée Claude CODJIA4
1 National University of Agriculture, BP 95 Kétou, Benin
2 Faculty of Agronomy, University of Parakou, Benin
3 Laboratoire de Recherche en Ecologie Animale et Zoogéographie (LaREZ), Université Nationale d’Agriculture (UNA), Benin
4 Laboratoire de Recherche en Ecologie Animale et Zoogéographie (LaREZ), Université Nationale d’Agriculture (UNA), Benin
Original language: English
Copyright © 2019 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
The common hippopotamus belongs to the threatened species that urgently need conservation programs. In this perspective, a study on the relationships between the species and human was conducted in areas surrounding the Ouémé River in Benin. This study aims to assess the types of damages caused by hippopotamus and conflict mitigation solutions- in order to facilitate pacific cohabitation between hippopotamus and human. A total of 180 people were interviewed in 6 villages using structured and semi-structured interviews. Our results indicated that the main damage caused by common hippopotamus was crops raiding (81.67 % respondents). Most respondents (53.89 %) declared that hippopotamus caused damage to their crops in farmland during the whole year, but period for raids varied significantly between villages (χ2= 57.926, p < 0.0001). This study highlights the necessity to implement mitigation measures in order to promote pacific cohabitation between hippo and human.
Author Keywords: Human-wildlife conflict, Mitigation measures, Hippopotamus amphibius, Crops damages.
Etienne M. DOSSOU1, Laurent G. HOUESSOU2, Toussaint Olou LOUGBEGNON3, and Jean Timothée Claude CODJIA4
1 National University of Agriculture, BP 95 Kétou, Benin
2 Faculty of Agronomy, University of Parakou, Benin
3 Laboratoire de Recherche en Ecologie Animale et Zoogéographie (LaREZ), Université Nationale d’Agriculture (UNA), Benin
4 Laboratoire de Recherche en Ecologie Animale et Zoogéographie (LaREZ), Université Nationale d’Agriculture (UNA), Benin
Original language: English
Copyright © 2019 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
The common hippopotamus belongs to the threatened species that urgently need conservation programs. In this perspective, a study on the relationships between the species and human was conducted in areas surrounding the Ouémé River in Benin. This study aims to assess the types of damages caused by hippopotamus and conflict mitigation solutions- in order to facilitate pacific cohabitation between hippopotamus and human. A total of 180 people were interviewed in 6 villages using structured and semi-structured interviews. Our results indicated that the main damage caused by common hippopotamus was crops raiding (81.67 % respondents). Most respondents (53.89 %) declared that hippopotamus caused damage to their crops in farmland during the whole year, but period for raids varied significantly between villages (χ2= 57.926, p < 0.0001). This study highlights the necessity to implement mitigation measures in order to promote pacific cohabitation between hippo and human.
Author Keywords: Human-wildlife conflict, Mitigation measures, Hippopotamus amphibius, Crops damages.
How to Cite this Article
Etienne M. DOSSOU, Laurent G. HOUESSOU, Toussaint Olou LOUGBEGNON, and Jean Timothée Claude CODJIA, “Common hippopotamus-human conflicts in Ouémé River area in central Benin Republic,” International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 638–644, January 2019.
