Department of Animal, Range Land and Wildlife Science

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    pecies Composition and Population Abundance of Medium and Large- Sized Mammalian Species and Human-Mammalian Conflict in Debre-Tserabi Monastery Forest, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia
    (Mekelle University, 2025-02-18) Samrawit Kidanemariam Teklu
    Information regarding mammalian species composition and conservation status, as well as community perception towards wildlife conservation is lacking in Debre-Tserabi Monastery Forest. The presentstudywas conducted to assess the Species Composition and Population Abundance of Medium and Large-Sized Mammals, and Human-Mammalian Conflict in Debre-Tserabi Monastery Forest, Northern Ethiopia. The study was conducted in Debre-Tserabi Monastery Forest and the peripheral villages of the monastery forest from July 2023-June 2024 encompassing both the wet and dry seasons. The fragmented monastery forest was stratified into four major habitats based on the vegetation type as forest, shrubland, crop land and riverine with eight representative transects were randomly laid down across the habitat to assess the species diversity and estimate the mammalian abundance. The questionnaire surveys provided data on respondents’ pattern of human-mammalian conflict, community perception of wildlife conservation, and potential traditional mitigation measures applied for. The variation in the number of species among habitats and between seasons was tested using Chi-square test. The mean comparison of the observed values was analyzed using ANOVA. Shannon-Weaver diversity index, Simpson’s diversity index and Sorenson’s coefficient were computed to assess the diversity disparities among the surveyed habitats. A total of 2,633 individuals and 11 species of medium and large-sized mammals were recorded including the vulnerable Panthera pardus. The population abundance of mammals recorded in the forest (694), shrubland (1244), cropland (270), riverine (425) during the study. The abundance of mammalian species among the surveyed habitat types were not statistically significant (P > 0.05). Chlorocebus pygerythrus was the most abundant species which accounted for 39.38% of the total population. Highest Shannon diversity index (H’) was recorded in the cropland habitat (H’ = 1.26). Seventy percent of the surveyed households suffered from both crop raiding and livestock predation by wild mammals. About 57.5% of the surveyed households had negative attitude towards the conservation of wild mammals. Researchers and relevant organizations should conduct awareness raising programs to improve community perceptions of the villagers, as well as restoration activities to reduce potential threats from wild mammals’ conservation.