Abstract

This study aimed to investigate perception, attitude and impacts of local communities on Senkele Swayne’s Hartebeest Sanctuary. Questionnaire survey, focus group discussions, key informant interviews and observation were employed to collect data. A total of 196 households participated in the questionnaire survey. The findings revealed that the local communities of SSHS had unfavorable perceptions and attitude towards the conservation of the sanctuary. A higher proportion of the respondents (44.9%) perceived that the size of the sanctuary is too large so that it should be shrunk while only 26.5 and 28.6% of them viewed that the size of the sanctuary is small and optimum, respectively. Majority of the respondents (57.7%) perceived that people and wild animals cannot coexist since they are threats to their livelihoods and a means to their resources restriction. Over half of the respondents (54.6%) had negative attitude while only 22.4% had positive attitude towards the sanctuary. There was a significant difference in attitude across age groups, education level, family sizes, level of landholding size and size of livestock ownership (P<0.05).

Key words: Attitude, communities, Ethiopia, perception, sanctuary.