Community Perceptions and Spatial Patterns of the Effectiveness of Human-elephant conflict Mitigation strategies Around Mikumi National Park, Tanzania

DOI: 10.22161/ijeab.112.14

Abstract:
Human–elephant conflict is a critical challenge in elephant-dominated landscapes, significantly affecting community livelihoods. Various mitigation measures have been implemented to reduce conflicts and promote coexistence, yet evidence of their effectiveness in deterring elephant incursions remains limited. In villages adjacent to Mikumi National Park (MNP), similar strategies as used in other elephant-dominated areas have been applied, but their efficacy has largely been undocumented. This study evaluated the perceived effectiveness of these measures using household questionnaires with a five-point Likert scale (1 = extremely less effective; 5 = extremely effective). Descriptive analyses estimated mean scores, while Kendall’s coefficient of concordance (W) and Fleiss’ Kappa assessed the level of agreement among respondents. Spatial patterns were analyzed in QGIS by overlaying village boundary shapefiles with perception scores to generate heatmaps of mitigation effectiveness. Results show that the perceived effectiveness of mitigation measures ranged from low to moderate, with considerable variation across mitigation strategies. Kendall’s W was weak but statistically significant agreement among respondents, reflecting respondents’ rankings were not random. This supported the null hypothesis that communities generally share similar perceptions of mitigation effectiveness. Nevertheless, the weak agreement among respondents reflects diverse experiences and local contexts. Spatially, the effectiveness of mitigation strategies was unevenly distributed across villages, underscoring the need for locally tailored interventions and context-specific approaches. Based on these findings, this study advocates combined mitigation methods to achieve utmost efficacy and recommends further complement to existing strategies by use of biological control methods particularly use of lions’ and army ants’ scents to scare elephants.

Keywords:
Biological control methods, Elephant conflicts, Elephant Conflict mitigations, Mitigation effectiveness, Mitigation effectiveness patterns

Article Info:
Received: 13 Mar 2026; Received in revised form: 11 Apr 2026; Accepted: 16 Apr 2026; Available online: 25 Apr 2026

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