African elephant crop foraging 781


TABLE 1 Questions administered to farmers from six villages in the Kasigau Wildlife Corridor, near Rukinga Wildlife Sanctuary, Kenya (Fig. 1), related to crop foraging by African savannah elephants Loxodonta africana.


Question Survey question (response type) 1


2 3


4 5 6


7 8 9


10 11


FIG. 1 The Kasigau Wildlife Corridor in Kenya, shown with its 14 community ranches and the locations of the six study villages.


ease of access) and comprised a majority of farming house- holds experiencing frequent elephant interactions. Because of logistical and budgetary constraints we limited our selec- tion to six villages: Itinyi and Kombomboro (combined be- cause of population size and proximity, hereafter referred to as Itinyi), Bungule, Miasenyi, Kisimenyi, Buguta and Mwakwasinyi (Fig. 1).


Methods


We developed a questionnaire (Supplementary Material 1) with our local partners based on previous research with farmers experiencing elephant crop foraging (Hoffmeier- Karimi & Schulte, 2015), taking into account local knowl- edge and customs, and people’s experience with and knowledge of encounters with elephants. The survey con- tained 64 questions, both semi-structured and open-ended, 19 of which formed the basis of this study. The relevant questions focused on the knowledge and use of deterrent methods and attitudes and behaviours towards elephants (Table 1). To further localize our efforts, we enlisted the help of Hellen Kiute, a facilitator from the community, to conduct the survey sessions. In 2020, with the support of local government officials, we selected as participants 30– 35 farmers from each village who were most affected by


12 13


15 16


17 18


19


Do you use methods to prevent crop raiding by wildlife on your farm? (Yes/no)


If yes, what type of methods do you use? (Open-ended)


Have you ever received information on methods to prevent crop raiding? (Yes/no)


If yes, what type of information have you received on methods to prevent crop raiding? (Open-ended)


Have you ever received instructions on how to build deterrent fences? (Yes/no)


If yes, what types of deterrent(s)? (Open-ended)


If you were given information about ways to prevent crop raiding, how likely is it you would be able to invest in and build deterrent methods? (Definitely/possibly/I am unsure/definitely not)


If not, please tell us why you would not be able to purchase or construct deterrent methods. (Open-ended)


What do you feel is the main reason for your crop losses? (Open-ended)


Have you ever actively chased elephants from your farm? (Yes/no)


Have you ever harmed or attempted to harm elephants when they came to your farm (these answers will NOT be shared with authorities)? (All the time/never/once/ regularly/several times)


How much do you fear elephants? (Very afraid/some- what afraid/not at all afraid/unsure/a little bit afraid)


Have you ever received information on how to safely live with elephants? (Yes/no)


14 Howmany acres do you currently use for crop farming? (Open-ended)


How many years have you been farming? (Open-ended)


What year were you born? (Open-ended)


Village of origin? (Open-ended; this was verified for each survey)


Gender? (Male/female)


What is the highest level of education that you have achieved? (Open-ended)


elephant crop foraging (a total of 206 participants from the six villages; Supplementary Table 1). To avoid gender bias, we selected c. 50%male and c. 50%female participants. We surveyed only one member per household to maintain sample independence. We invited individuals to participate in a meeting occur-


ring in their respective village in September 2020. At the meeting the facilitator administered a paper survey and was available to answer any queries and aid those who might be illiterate (White et al., 2005), which was c. 15%of the participants (n = 31 across all villages). Participants com- pleted the surveys independently of each other. To ensure


Oryx, 2024, 58(6), 779–787 © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605323001795


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