Local spotted hyena abundance and community tolerance of depredation in human-dominated landscapes in Northern Ethiopia

The generally accepted wisdom that large carnivores cannot survive in human dominated landscapes does not hold true in Ethiopia. The present work reports on spotted hyena abundance and distribution in and around three National Forest Priority Areas in Tigray, northern Ethiopia. Calling stations were used to assess spotted hyena abundance and distribution in and outside the protected areas. We assessed human tolerance towards predators and factors responsible for livestock loss. The response outside the forest was significantly higher. Predators, disease and theft were the factors responsible for livestock loss. The presence of a guard, the construction of an enclosure and the presence of dogs were used to mitigate livestock depredation. The majority of the respondents had a positive attitude towards predator conservation. Our data suggest that spotted hyenas in our study area are more abundant and widely distributed in human-dominated landscapes than in natural forest areas, probably because of better scavenging opportunities from human waste and livestock.