Pattern of crop raiding by wild large mammals and the resultant impacts vary with distances from forests in southwest Ethiopia

Crop raiding is a major form of human-wildlife interaction mainly in the ecotone areas of human-modified-natural landscapes. The aim of this study was to examine the spatial pattern of crop raiding and the resultant impacts on how farmers perceive forests at different distances from Yayu Coffee Forest Biosphere Reserve which is located in southwest Ethiopia. For this, thirty transects (each 1km long) were laid out at 200m interval parallel to forest edges: ten transects close to forest (<0.5km), ten at intermediate (0.5-1km) and ten transects were taken far from forest (>1km). Along each transect 2-6 households were randomly selected and interviewed using semi-structured questionnaire. The perception of the respondents on forests at different distances from forest edges was analyzed using Pearson's Chi-square test. The variation in the amount of damage among these three locations was tested using one-way ANOVA. Four wild large mammals including; olive baboon, vervet monkey, bush pigs and crested porcupine were identified as top crop raiders in the area. The frequencies of occurrence of crop raiders decreased with increasing distance from forest edges. Similarly, the amount of damage in maize fields was higher close to forests when compared with that of either at intermediate or far from forest edges (P<0.001). Eighty one percent of the households living close to the forests perceive that forest is a threat to their survival. Overall, our results imply that strategies need to be sought in order to minimize the socio-ecological impacts of crop raiders mainly in locations close to forest edges.