The Impact of Human Activities on Wildlife Conservation in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area

Abstract

Human population growth in areas bordering protected areas is high and has become a serious threat to the management of wildlife all over Africa. Local communities around the protected areas conduct illegal activities that are destructive to habitats and threaten wildlife. This study explored the impact of the human population on large animals in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. The study used quantitative and qualitative research methods, employing both closed and open-ended questionnaires from 125 respondents. The collected data were analysed using IBM and Microsoft Excel tools. The results showed that wildlife and livestock can share and drink water in the same area. Furthermore, the study established that an increase in livestock numbers has no negative effect on wildlife numbers, but an increase in human settlement (93.9%) consumed natural forest products as building materials, creating deforestation, while the use of firewood as a source of power (96.5%) has a great negative impact on wildlife and their habitat because of fragmentation of wildlife habitat within Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Thus, there is a need to manage population growth along the national conserved or protected areas to ensure the long-term existence of designated protected areas.