Abstract

Coexistence of human and hyena, associated impacts, and feeding habit was studied in Haramaya district of Eastern Ethiopia from October, 2011 to December, 2013. A total of 110 households from four sub-districts (Tinike, Finkile, Kerensa and Bocheke) were selected randomly for interview. The questionnaire was designed to assess various parameters including eliciting information on the knowledge of local people about spotted hyena in the area, identify the habitat that were disturbed by human activities, number of domestic animals owned and its management and number of livestock lost, incidences of human attack and death, and susceptible domestic animal species to predation by hyenas for the past 10 years. The household’s survey result showed that 1578 domestic animals were lost due to predation for the past 10 years. The economic cost of livestock lost due to predation from hyena was about US$ 7527.8 per year.  Scat analysis used to study diet of spotted hyena showed that the prey from domestic origin were dominating except for dikdik (Madoqua saltiana), klipspringer (Oreotragus oreotragus) and porcupine (Hystrix cristata), which were observed from Kerensa sub-district. Sheep was considerably more preferable prey among domestic animals and constituted 37.4%, followed by 35.4% goats and 10.47% dogs. Improvements of livestock management system and west disposal practices can substantially reduce human-hyena conflicts and loss of livestock.

Key words: Human-Hyena conflicts, Haramaya district, predation, spotted hyena.