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The influence of park access during drought on attitudes toward wildlife and lion killing behaviour in Maasailand, Kenya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2013

LEELA HAZZAH ,
STEPHANIE DOLRENRY ,
DAVID KAPLAN  and
LAURENCE FRANK
LEELA HAZZAH*
Affiliation:
Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA
STEPHANIE DOLRENRY
Affiliation:
Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA
DAVID KAPLAN
Affiliation:
Department of Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA
LAURENCE FRANK
Affiliation:
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
*
*Correspondence: Dr Leela Hazzah Tel: +254 726 817701 Fax: +254 62 32750 e-mail: lhazzah@gmail.com
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Summary

Minimizing the inherent conflict between protecting fauna and flora and accommodating the needs of the local communities is one of the greatest challenges facing protected area (PA) management in developing countries of the world. Allowing pastoralists access to PAs and their resources remains a contentious issue in southern Kenya, where retaliatory killing of African lions (Panthera leo) by Maasai pastoralists has caused a steep decline in the lion population, threatening local extinction. Previous studies that have shown that local people often have negative attitudes toward PAs; here PA policy during times of hardship is linked to attitudes toward lions and behavioural intentions. Different access policies to grazing inside Tsavo and Nairobi National Parks during the 2008/2009 drought influenced Maasai attitudes toward lions and their propensity to kill them. A semi-structured questionnaire (n = 206) and a multivariate model examine the relative importance of PA access and 11 additional predictors on individuals’ attitudes and reported inclination to kill lions. Access for livestock to PAs, benefits from wildlife and higher education were associated with positive attitudes toward lions and a lower reported propensity to kill. The success of lion conservation in Maasailand may depend upon recognizing and accommodating pastoralists’ inherent vulnerability to drought-induced livestock mortality.

Keywords

AfricaattitudescommunityconservationhuntingKenyalionslivestockpeople-park interactionsprotected areasresource access
Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 40 , Issue 3 , September 2013 , pp. 266 - 276
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2013 

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