Rice growers, hunters and fishermen perception of hippopotamus activities across Central River Region (CRR) of the Gambia: implication for their conservation

Abstract

The aim of the study is to investigate the types of damages caused by hippopotamus and control methods adapted by farmers in order to facilitate co-existence between hippopotamus and humans. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in March 2021 to assess the activities of Hippopotami across CRR of The Gambia using 252 standardized questionnaire and two Focal Group Discussions (FGDs). About 96% of respondents reported that they have seen hippos before in their communities and 98% of them also said that hippos have been raiding their communities for food for the past 10 years. Majority of the respondents reported that hippos have affected them before and 93% of them said that there was no help from the government when these animals attacked or destroyed their crops/fishing nets. However, 11% of the respondents reported that, hippos are not important to be conserved. The multinomial logistic regression result shows that, the young active, adult active and respondents from Janjanbureh had a positive belief about the importance of conserving hippos.