Local attitudes and perceived threats of human elephant conflict: a case study at Lake Jipe, Kenya

Opportunity costs of human–elephant conflict are complex and pose diverse challenges to both humans and elephants, whether real or perceived. In the Lake Jipe area, on the western boundary of Tsavo West National Park in Kenya, people see elephants in their vicinity almost daily. This expanding community is facing complex challenges as fishing, the main source of income, has declined substantially and the community is becoming more aware of the presence of elephants. We conducted a rapid rural appraisal using semi-structured interviews and questionnaires within three lakeside fishing villages to better understand how these changes within the community, and how tensions among stakeholders are affecting interactions with elephants. The results were complemented by data from two years of GPS tracking data of an elephant that was frequently present in the communities. Perceptions and attitudes of the community towards elephants were analysed and the ‘conflict to coexistence continuum framework’ was applied to determine the state in which this community exists in relation to elephants. Our findings suggest that worsening socioeconomic issues such as unsustainable income sources, food insecurity and human–human tensions play an important role in influencing risk perceptions and increasing perceived conflicts with elephants. In the three villages studied, risks and benefits, and relations among stakeholders are likely to determine whether community interactions with elephants shift towards coexistence or conflict. We argue that the increasingly vulnerable livelihoods observed in these communities may shift the villagers' position within the continuum towards one of intolerance and conflict with elephants in the future. Resume Les couts d'opportunite des aux conflit humains-elephant sont complexes et posent divers defis tant aux humains qu'aux elephants, qu'ils soient reels ou percus. Dans la region du lac Jipe, a la limite ouest du parc national de Tsavo West au Kenya, les gens voient des elephants dans leur cour presque tous les jours. Cette communaute en expansion est confrontee a des defis complexes car la peche, principale source de revenus, diminue considerablement et la communaute devient de plus en plus consciente de la presence des elephants. Nous avons mene une evaluation rurale rapide dans trois villages de pecheurs au bord du lac pour mieux comprendre comment ces changements au sein de la communaute, associes aux tensions des parties prenantes, affectent les interactions avec les elephants. Notre etude a combine deux ans de donnees de suivi GPS d'elephants, d'entretiens semi-structures et de questionnaires. Les perceptions et attitudes de la communaute a l’egard des elephants ont ete analysees et le «cadre du continuum du Conflit a la Coexistence» a ete applique pour determiner l’etat dans lequel cette communaute existe par rapport aux elephants. Nos resultats suggerent que l'aggravation des problemes socio-economiques tels que les sources de revenus precaires, l'insecurite alimentaire et les tensions entre humains, joue un role important en influencant la perception des risques et en augmentant les conflits percus avec les elephants. Dans cette etude de cas, la perception du risque, la perception des avantages et les relations avec les parties prenantes determinent si les interactions de la communaute avec les elephants peuvent evoluer vers la coexistence ou le conflit. Nous soutenons que les moyens de subsistance de plus en plus precaires observes dans ces communautes pourraient changer leur position dans le continuum vers une position d'intolerance et de conflit avec les elephants a l'avenir.