Deter predation of livestock by herding livestock using adults instead of children to reduce human-wildlife conflict

Overall effectiveness category Unknown effectiveness (limited evidence)
Number of studies: 1
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How is the evidence assessed?

Effectiveness

70%
Certainty

30%
Harms

0%

Calculating overall effectiveness category

Background information and definitions

Domestic livestock may be vulnerable to mammalian predators. Livestock may be guarded by people to deter predators. In some areas, guarding is routinely carried out by children. This intervention refers to guarding by adults instead of children.

Study locations

Key messages

One study evaluated the effects on predatory mammal activities of herding livestock using adults instead of children to reduce human-wildlife conflict. This study was in Cameroon.

COMMUNITY RESPONSE (0 STUDIES)

POPULATION RESPONSE (0 STUDIES)

BEHAVIOUR (0 STUDIES)

OTHER (1 STUDY)

Human-wildlife conflict (1 study): A site comparison study in Cameroon found that using adults to herd livestock reduced losses through predation relative to that of livestock herded solely by children.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

A site comparison study in 2008 of savanna around a national park in Cameroon (Tumenta et al. 2013) found that using adults to herd livestock reduced losses through predation relative to livestock herded by children. Among resident pastoralist households, fewer livestock were lost to carnivores when the livestock were herded by adults (two animals/year) than by children (eight animals/year). Among nomadic pastoralist households, there were also fewer livestock lost to carnivores when herded by adults (five animals/year) than by children (16 animals/year). Among resident pastoralists that herded livestock, 42% of herders (60 herders) were adults. Among nomadic pastoralists that herded livestock, 72% (124 herders) were adults. Two hundred and seven resident pastoralists and 174 nomadic pastoralists were interviewed. Pastoralists reported the incidence of predation of livestock by large carnivores and details of animal husbandry techniques used. Villages studied were selected based on tracked movements of radio-collared lions.
Study and other actions tested
Referenced paper
Tumenta P.N., de Iongh H.H., Funston P.J. & Udo de Haes H.A. (2013) Livestock depredation and mitigation methods practised by resident and nomadic pastoralists around Waza National Park, Cameroon. Oryx, 47, 237-242.

Please cite as:

Littlewood, N.A., Rocha, R., Smith, R.K., Martin, P.A., Lockhart, S.L., Schoonover, R.F., Wilman, E., Bladon, A.J., Sainsbury, K.A., Pimm S. and Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Terrestrial Mammal Conservation: Global Evidence for the Effects of Interventions for terrestrial mammals excluding bats and primates. Synopses of Conservation Evidence Series. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Terrestrial Mammal Conservation

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