Dry-season motorbike movement patterns in four villages in Serengeti and Dodoma Districts, Tanzania: Does the movement patterns reflect the night usage in illegal hunting?
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: • Motorbike movement patterns in four villages located in Serengeti and Dodoma districts were compared to confirm their usage in illegal hunting. • The patterns of motorbike movement at Nattambiso Village (Serengeti) were similar to those observed at Ntyuka Village (Dodoma). • Unlike the village leaders and community members, all anti-poaching personnel confirmed the usage of motorbikes in illegal hunting. • The motorbike movement patterns do not directly reflect the usage of motorbikes in illegal hunting at night. • Motorbike movement during the day may demonstrate the differences that exist among villages with different law enforcement levels. In recent years, bicycle usage has been replaced by relatively inexpensive motorbikes imported from Asia, which currently are claimed to participate in illegal activities including charcoal transportation and bushmeat hunting. The current study recorded the usage of motorbikes during dry season in three villages surrounding the northwestern Serengeti ecosystem and compared the patterns with those observed in a control village (Ntyuka) located in Dodoma District, farther from any protected area, to confirm the possible usage of the motorbikes in illegal hunting. Nattambiso Village (highly patrolled area) and patterns observed at Ntyuka Village were similar. Interviewed anti-poaching personnel confirmed the usage of motorbikes in illegal hunting during the day and at night while all village leaders ignored the question relating to motorbike usage in illegal hunting. The movement patterns recorded and analysed from this study do not directly reflect the usage of motorbikes in illegal hunting but they demonstrate the differences that exist among villages with different law enforcement levels. A detailed study, including the application of advanced technology, should be conducted to reveal the day and the night usage of motorbikes in villages adjacent to protected areas. The abundance of resident herbivores in/and around the villages close to protected areas should be assessed too. All motorbikes operating in each village should be registered and the record kept available to public.
Author: Julius William Nyahongo
Institution: The University of Dodoma
Language: English
Subfield: Nature and Landscape Conservation
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,640
OpenAlex ID: W4403454607