"Synergies Between Livestock Husbandry and
Wildlife Conservation in Southern Province, Zambia"
Dale Lewis
Wildlife conservation solutions in rural areas surrounding
protected areas are often hidden in a complex web of livelihood
constraints and needs that increase the risks for wildlife/human
conflicts. Most wildlife managers are not trained to look
for such relationships and rural development specialists
generally do not adapt their rural livelihood solutions to
conservation. This paper illustrates the critical importance
of building conservation programs around such relationships
for wildlife areas where the potential for human/wildlife
conflict exists. Such conflicts are especially exacerbated
when human populations suffer hardships of food shortages
and low income. Two real-life examples are given in Zambia
where disease of domestic species, cattle and poultry, plays
an important role in influencing rates of poaching. Pilot
studies show how appropriate interventions that enhance the
synergy between wildlife conservation and human livelihoods
through applied animal husbandry can lead to low cost solutions
to wildlife conservation.
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