Figure 6 : Irgaansa
Kebele settlements in Nech Sar National Park (Photo by Yacob Kassa,
2018)
The local people living adjacent to the Nech Sar National Park replied
that there was illegal hunting practice on most mammals for the purpose
of feeding and to utilize them for disease resistance. Previously, the
poaching activities of mammals particularly Warthog, Grant’s gazelle,
the Greater kudu, and Lesser kudu were the most common in the park. This
occurs especially in the site of the Guji people area. The local hunters
kill a large number of Warthog for tuberculosis disease resistance.
Since the people was a pastoralist, the mammal′s Grants gazelle, the
Greater kudu, and Lesser kudu were killed for their food purpose during
the study period (Table 4). According to the witness obtained from the
park experts and archives, poaching and illegal wildlife trade
activities in and around the park as well as the unwise use of natural
resources have been the major problems facing the Park area, and have
led to the extinction of some mammalian fauna species (e.g.; the
endangered endemic subspecies of Swayne hartebeest (Alcelaphus
buselaphus swaynei ) was locally extinct due to the reason of illegal
hunting in the park during the past few
years).
Table 4: Number of killed animals during the study period in NSNP