Human-carnivore coexistence in the Tarangire ecosystem

Facilitating coexistence between humans and large carnivores is one of the most complex and pressing conservation issues globally. Large carnivores pose threats to human security and private property, and people may respond to those risks with retaliation which can jeopardize the persistence of carnivore populations. The nature of these interactions can be influenced by several variables including ecological, anthropogenic as well as political dimensions. The Tarangire Ecosystem (TE) of northern Tanzania is a stronghold for multiple large carnivore species. Despite multi-faceted and long-term carnivore conservation efforts being implemented in the ecosystem, the anthropogenic impacts on carnivore populations are pervasive. As only a portion of the TE is fully protected, the wide-ranging nature of carnivores brings them into close contact with people living among a matrix of village lands. Consequently, this ecosystem experiences high levels of human-carnivore conflicts. In this chapter, we synthesize the existing information to characterize the extent, impacts, and spatiotemporal patterns of human-carnivore interactions (which often result in severe conflicts, causing harm to people, livestock, and carnivores), examine the efficacy and challenges of implementing interventions designed to reduce human-carnivore conflict, and explore the socio-economic dimensions of these mitigation efforts