FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH ANIMAL HEALTH AT WILDLIFE-CATTLE INTERFACE IN SANGA SUB COUNTY, KIRUHURA DISTRICT

Abstract

The coexistence of wildlife and domestic cattle in shared landscapes, known as the wildlife-cattle interface, presents a unique set of challenges for both conservation efforts and livestock management. The stduy assessed the factors associated with animal health at wildlife-cattle interface in Sanga Sub County, Kiruhura District. The objectives of this study were to: find out the community perceptions towards risks associated with wildlife-cattle interface; determine the prevalence and patterns of disease transmission between wild-life and cattle populations at the wildlife-cattle interface and develop evidence-based recommendations to mitigate identified risk factors associated with animal health at wildlife- cattle interface in Sanga Sub County, Kiruhura District. A quantitative approach was adopted employing a descriptive survey research design, Simple random sampling was adopted to select 148 respondents accompanied by purposive sampling used to select key informants for the study. Data was collected using questionnaires and interviews and analysed using descriptive and thematic analysis. Findings revealed that wildlife cattle interface is associated with disease transmission risks, significant mortalities and production losses in cattle, competition between wild and domestic herbivores of similar dietary breadth, predation and injuries by wildlife on cattle. More so, pathogens and parasites and livestock starvation due to shortage of water contribute to diseases such as brucellosis. It was concluded that farmers and local authorities in Sanga Sub County, Kiruhura District, have taken steps to alleviate the issues related to the wildlife-cattle interface in order to promote a peaceful coexistence between domestic cattle and wildlife which include raising awareness among farmers, handling problematic animals, compensation, conservation activities, installation of live fencing system, resource and revenue sharing in terms of tangible economic benefits like fish, firewood & medicinal plants. The major recommendation in light of this research is to encourage projects for collaborative land and resource management in light of the competition for resources that exists between wild and domestic herbivores.