Walia Special Edition on the Bale Mountains (2011) - Zoologische ...

glades. Similarly, Gebicho is not far from both hora Habire’ and hora Dokke’ and many large glades
are found in the area.
The area near hora Dofo and hora Waticha is subject to more intensive grazing pressure
during the dry season and shows many peculiarities. In particular, glades are usually found on steep
hills rather than on flat and waterlogged terrains and they have unclear boundaries blurred with low
density forest. This could be the result of prolonged grazing pressure and formation of artificial open
spaces, or the underlying geology as the presence of acidic soils and the granite outcrops found on
such hills might suggest. The fame of the two horas could in this case be the main driving factor
behind the colonization of the area from so many different places during the dry season.
The second main group of outsiders moving into the forest come from Adaba (West-Arsi) and
travel to Hawo, hora Dofo and Waticha. Hora Dofo and hora Waticha are regularly used by people
from the province of Adaba (West Arsi region), in particular from the villages of Wege and Gama.
They are used both in the wet and dry season, with prolonged permanence in the latter period. It is
not clear what motivates the movement but it might be the scarcity of horas in their home villages.
Three main routes were described for seasonal migration of insiders or people resident in the
forest: 1) from Rira to Sanetti, various horas and Worgona in particular; 2) from Addeye to Hawo,
hora Dofo and hora Waticha; and 3), from Haro Gurratti to Ordoba, with little use of hora Chakota.
Despite the presence of many horas in Rira, the appeal of the high altitude horas, and
Worgona in particular, is without comparison. Salinity measured in Worgona during the survey
gave readings of 6 mS, four times greater than the most saline hora in Hora Rasa. The use of high
altitude horas is driven by more than only the high water quality, but is also a part of traditional
transhumance patterns called ‘godantu’ which has cultural and spiritual relevance; use of the horas
was until recently associated with religious inaugurations and rituals, demonstrating the cultural and
spiritual significance of the practice.
The seasonal migration from Addeye to Hawo is allegedly the result of conflicts and excessive
land exploitation in Addeye during the dry season, due to the arrival of migrants from the south. The
outsiders from Dello Mena establish themselves near Addeye and, as a consequence of that, many
villagers of Addeye prefer to move north, settling in proximity of the two horas. Outsiders are not
seen positively in Addeye; they are accused of degrading the forest by overgrazing trees and causing
fires while collecting honey. This is the only case of conflict reported, while in all other cases the
coming of outsiders is peacefully accepted.
The exhaustion of the grazing grounds during the dry season is the cause of migration from
Haro Gurratti to Ordoba, where some large glades are found at higher altitude where the exhaustion
is delayed. Once these glades also become dry, grazing shifts to trees. Although hora Chakota is
no less saline than the highly valued horas of Dofo and Waticha, it is little used due to suspected
contamination by some kind of parasite; that is, cattle are perceived to become ill after drinking its
waters. People continue to use Dofo and Waticha, which are not very far from Ordoba.
<strong>Walia</strong>-<strong>Special</strong> <strong>Edition</strong> on the Bale Mountains 234