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Conserving Mackinder's eagle owls in farmlands of Kenya: assessing the influence of pesticide use, tourism and local knowledge of owl habits in protecting a culturally loathed species

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2008

DARCY L. OGADA  and
PAUL MURIITHI KIBUTHU
DARCY L. OGADA*
Affiliation:
National Museums of Kenya, Zoology Department, Ornithology Section, PO Box 40658, GPO 00100, Nairobi, Kenya Rhodes University, Department of Zoology and Entomology, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa
PAUL MURIITHI KIBUTHU
Affiliation:
Mackinder's Youth Group, PO Box 178, Mweiga, Kenya
*
*Correspondence: Dr Darcy Ogada e-mail: darcyogada@yahoo.com
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Summary

Farmlands can be good habitat for owls and owls can benefit farmers, but pesticide use can negatively affect owls and within many regions of Africa owls are loathed owing to beliefs that they bring misfortune or death. Since 1997, a small-scale owl tourism initiative that educates farmers about owls and benefits them financially has been operating in central Kenya. Pesticide use, farmers' beliefs and knowledge about owls, and the impacts that tourism can have on farmers' attitudes and behaviour towards owls in rural Kenya were surveyed. Agricultural pests were the most serious problem facing farmers, though only 28 % of farmers said they controlled vertebrate pests using pesticides. The insecticide carbofuran was often misused to kill vertebrate pests. Common control measures were either to ‘do nothing’ or to chase pests from farms. Farmers knew of Mackinder's eagle owls living adjacent to their farms, but 68 % said they didn't adhere to the culturally negative beliefs about owls. Knowledge of owl diet amongst farmers was high (75 %). Farmers who benefited from owl tourism were more likely to know more about owl diet and habits. Where farmers gained financial benefits from tourism or knew more about owls, they were more likely to categorize owls as ‘good’, but farmers who knew about owl diet were more likely to use pesticides or kill owl prey on their farms. Though knowledge of owls did not have a positive effect on farmers' behaviour toward owls, this was probably the result of a lack of ecological literacy rather than any deliberate antagonism toward owls. Financial rewards are very important to poor farmers, but may not result in actions that enhance species conservation unless farmers have a basic understanding of ecological processes.

Keywords

agricultureattitudesbenefitsBubo capensis mackindericarbofurancrop damagepredatorvertebrate pest
Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , September 2008 , pp. 252 - 260
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2008

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