DOI: 10.5061/dryad.ns1rn8q5z
title: Using the theory of planned behaviour to predict farmer's intention to report livestock depredation and kill hyena

description: Understanding and managing conservation conflicts is important for
 stakeholders (e.g., policymakers and practitioners) trying to minimise
 negative impacts on people and biodiversity. A key component of Namibia’s
 community-based natural resource management system, besides enabling
 communities to derive benefits from wildlife, is the monitoring of
 wildlife and reporting of negative wildlife impacts on human lives and
 livelihoods. Farmers across Namibia may legally kill carnivores found
 attacking their livestock and may receive financial compensation if
 reported within twenty-four hours. Both interventions are intended to
 offset costs and build tolerance towards wildlife. Expanding the Theory of
 Planned Behaviour by incorporating Descriptive Norm, we investigated
 farmers’ Behavioural Intention to (1) legally kill brown Hyaena brunnea
 and spotted Crocuta crocuta hyena when found killing their livestock, and
 (2) report livestock depredation incidents to the relevant authorities in
 two governance contexts – inside versus outside communal conservancies. We
 hypothesised famers inside communal conservancies would have lower
 behavioural intentions to kill hyaena and stronger intentions to report
 livestock depredation compared to farmers outside conservancies.
 Questionnaire data were collected from 1,139 farmers from inside (n=945)
 and outside (n=188) communal conservancies. Most respondents reported no
 intention to kill hyena that killed their cattle, with no significant
 difference between farmers living inside (89%) and outside (90%)
 conservancies. Intention to report depredation incidents differed
 significantly between groups, with 90% of respondents inside conservancies
 intending to report compared to 78% outside conservancies. Inside
 conservancies, Attitude was the strongest predictors of farmers’
 Behavioural Intention to kill hyena and report incidents of livestock
 depredation. Outside conservancies, intention to kill hyaena was most
 strongly associated with Perceived Behavioural Control, while Attitude was
 the strongest predictor of intention to report. Including Descriptive Norm
 improved model fit. Our findings highlight how socio-psychological factors
 differ between governance contexts and how they subsequently influence
 farmer’s behavioural intentions. Our improved understanding of perceptions
 underpinning farmers’ decision-making can inform the design of
 interventions to reduce retaliatory killing and improve reporting of
 wildlife impacts. Results from this study could also improve the
 interpretation of national depredation databases and guide more effective
 mitigation strategies.
description: The survey was piloted in early 2019 in five conservancies to
 identify ambiguities, assess question flow, and improve clarity before
 full implementation. Between 2019 and 2020, we carried out 1,139 surveys
 using a questionnaire composed of three sections. The first gathered data
 on perceived risks and impacts of wildlife on households and characterised
 farms found within and outside of communal conservancies (Table S2). The
 first section also gathered information on farmer demographics (e.g., age,
 education level and household size) and number of livestock owned (Table
 S3). The final two sections measured Descriptive Norm and four components
 of the TPB (Attitude, Subjective Norm, Perceived Behavioural Control and
 Behavioural Intention) enumerating respondents’ perspectives with respect
 to two distinct behaviours, killing hyena and reporting a livestock
 depredation incident by hyena. Answers were reported using a 5-point
 Likert-type scale ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree
 (Table 1). Respondents answered TPB questions from their own personal view
 but answered other questions (e.g., number of cattle owned) at the
 household level. Respondents were categorised as owning livestock or not,
 and as members of a communal conservancy or not. Respondents’ livestock
 ownership and conservancy membership were recorded using binary (Yes/No)
 categories. Table 1 shows constructs and items used to model farmer’s
 intention to kill hyena that were killing their livestock, and report
 incidents of livestock depredation, as well as reliability and descriptive
 statistics of items. Given the rural setting, most
 homesteads or villages had low population densities, were often difficult
 to access, scattered and, in some cases, communities inside communal
 conservancies were semi-nomadic. For these reasons, we used a combination
 of snowball and convenience sampling (Newing, 2010), with the household
 defined as the sampling unit (FAO, 2010). We surveyed either the household
 owner or another adult member (≥18 years) who knew about the households’
 farming practices and wildlife interactions. We aimed to sample a minimum
 of 40 households per communal conservancy and 40 households per selected
 area adjacent to communal conservancies (from here on collectively
 referred to as areas “outside conservancies”), although the final number
 varied per site depending on respondent willingness and accessibility.
 Surveys were conducted in English, with the support of local interpreters.
 In communal conservancies, office staff and community game guards acted as
 guides and interpreters, while outside conservancies, community members
 assisted in this role. Interpreters helped translate questions and
 participants’ responses into the relevant local languages, ensuring
 clarity and comprehension. Each survey took approximately one hour to
 administer. Permission to undertake research at each site was obtained
 from the relevant traditional authorities and conservancy office staff.
 Data from the questionnaire were collected and were data recorded using
 ‘Device Magic’ (Device Magic, 2021).
description: # Using the theory of planned behaviour to predict farmer's intention
 to report livestock depredation and kill hyena Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.ns1rn8q5z](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.ns1rn8q5z) ##
 Description of the data and file structure This dataset was collected as
 part of an experimental study investigating farmers’ behavioural
 intentions toward hyena-related livestock depredation in Namibia. Using an
 expanded Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) framework incorporating
 Descriptive Norm, questionnaire data were gathered from 1,139 farmers
 living inside and outside communal conservancies to assess their
 intentions to (1) legally kill hyenas when found attacking livestock and
 (2) report depredation incidents to authorities. The data capture
 socio-psychological constructs (Attitude, Subjective Norm, Perceived
 Behavioural Control, and Descriptive Norm) and demographic and contextual
 variables. These efforts aimed to understand how governance context
 influences conservation behaviour and to inform strategies for mitigating
 human–wildlife conflict and improving incident reporting in Namibia’s
 community-based natural resource management system. ### Files and
 variables #### File: Tavolaro_et_al_TPB_data.csv **Description:**  #####
 Variables * Missing variables (no response or NA) = #NULL!  * Descriptive
 variables: | Variable | Question | |
 :----------------------------------------------------------------- |
 :--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **1.Region** | Name of region | | **2.Areyouaconservancymember** | Are you a conservancy member? | | **3.Inthepastyeardidyourhouseholdproducefood** | In the past year did your household produce food? | | **4.Howmuchmoneyonaveragefromwagessalesandgovernmentgrantscomes** | How much money on average from wages, sales and government grants comes into your household each month? (N$) | | **5.wildlifekillinglivestock** | Do you think that near your village/homestead, the prevalence of wildlife killing livestock has increased, stayed the same or decreased (since the start of the conservancy or in the past decade):  | | **6.Hasyourhouseholdeverexperiencedanydamageassociatedwithwildli** | Has your household ever experienced any damage associated with wildlife (i.e. livestock loss, crop or infrastructure damage)? | | **7.Theimpactonmyhouseholdofwildlifedamagingmypropertylivestock** | The impact on my household of wildlife damaging my property (livestock, crop or infrastructure) is: | | **8.Riskofdamageassociatedwithwildlifehappeningtomypropertyinth** | Risk of damage associated with wildlife happening to my property in the next 12 months is: | | **9.doyouownlivestock** | In the past year, did you or your household own cattle? | | **10.NumberofLivestock** | What was the largest number of cattle you had in the past year?  | | **11.Doyouprotectyourcattlefromwildlife** | Do you protect your cattle from wildlife? | | **12.Didyoureceiveoffsetpaymentsfortheselosses** | Did you receive any offsets/compensation for these losses? | | **13.Doyoubenefitfromhavinghyenainthearea** | Do you benefit from having hyena in the area? | | **14a-j** | In your community, who is likely to influence your decision whether or not to take matters into your own hands to kill wildlife which is predating your livestock? | * TPB Kill Variables: | **Attitude** | **AttK1** | 1. For me to kill a hyena that is killing my livestock is the right thing to do | | :-------------------------------- | :-------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Attitude** | **AttK2** | 2. For me to kill a hyena that is killing my livestock is a good thing | | **Attitude** | **AttK3** | 3. For me to kill a hyena that is killing my livestock would benefit my household | | **Subjective Norm** | **SNK1** | 1. I feel social pressure to take matters into my own hands and to kill a hyena that is killing my livestock | | **Subjective Norm** | **SNK2** | 2. Most people in my community think I should kill a hyena if it kills my livestock | | **Subjective Norm** | **SNK3** | **3.** Doing what people in my community think I should do is important to me | | **Perceived Behavioural Control** | **PBCK1** | 1. Whether I kill the hyena for killing my cattle, is my decision | | **Perceived Behavioural Control** | **PBCK2** | 2. I can kill a hyena who is killing my cattle if I want to | | **Perceived Behavioural Control** | **PBCK3** | 3. It is easy for me to kill a hyena who is killing my cattle if I want to | | **Descriptive Norm** | **DNK1** | **1.** Most people in my community kill wildlife that are killing their livestock | | **Descriptive Norm** | **DNK2** | 2. Most people in my community think that killing wildlife that are killing their livestock would benefit their household | | **Descriptive Norm** | **DNK3** | **3.** Most people in my community think that killing wildlife that are killing their livestock is the right thing to do | | **Intention** | **IntK1** | **1.** I intend to kill the next hyena that kills my livestock | | **Intention** | **IntK2** | **2.** I will try to kill the next hyena that kills my livestock | * TPB Report Variables: | **Attitude** | **AttR1** | 1. For me to report the incident of a hyena killing my livestock and wait for MEFT or a PH to kill it is the right thing to do | | :-------------------------------- | :-------- | :--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Attitude** | **AttR2** | 2. For me to report the incident of a hyena killing my livestock and wait for MEFT or a PH to kill it is a good thing | | **Attitude** | **AttR3** | 3. For me to report the incident of a hyena killing my livestock and wait for MEFT or a PH to kill it would benefit my household | | **Subjective Norm** | **SNR1** | 1. I feel social pressure to report the incident of a hyena killing my livestock and wait for MEFT or a PH to kill it | | **Subjective Norm** | **SNR2** | 2. Most people in my community think I should report to the authorities an incident of a hyena killing my livestock | | **Subjective Norm** | **SNR3** | 3. Doing what people in my community think I should do is important to me | | **Perceived Behavioural Control** | **PBCR1** | **1.** Whether I report the incident of the hyena killing my cattle, is my decision | | **Perceived Behavioural Control** | **PBCR2** | 2. I can report the incident of the hyena killing my cattle if I want to | | **Perceived Behavioural Control** | **PBCR3** | **3.**  It is easy for me to report the incident of the hyena killing my cattle if I want to | | **Descriptive Norm** | **DNR1** | **1.** Most people in my village report to the authorities incidents of wildlife killing their livestock | | **Descriptive Norm** | **DNR2** | **2.** Most people in my community think that reporting to the authorities incidents of wildlife killing their livestock is the right thing to do | | **Descriptive Norm** | **DNR3** | 3. Most people in my community think that reporting to the authorities incidents of wildlife killing their livestock would benefit their household   | | **Intention** | **IntR1** | **1.** I intend to report the next incident of a hyena killing my livestock | | **Intention** | **IntR2** | **2.** I will try to report the next incident of a hyena killing my livestock | ## Code/software Statistical analyses were carried out in R version 4.2.3 (R Core Team 2024), using ltm package (Rizopoulos, 2007) for descriptive and t-test analysis, and SPSS AMOS for SEMs (Arbuckle, 2019). ## Human subjects data All human subjects provided explicit consent for public data sharing, identifying information was removed through pseudonymization and exclusion of personal details.