Girma-Eshete-Jenbere-thesis - Ethiopian Wolf Conservation ...

Ethiopian wolves depend on Afro-alpine habitats with enough rodents to survive. According to
Delany (1972), the main factors accounting for the distribution and abundance of rodents are the
nature of vegetation through the food and cover it provides and the extent to which these habitat
components are modified by large mammals and human activity. Previous studies of Mt. Abune
Yoseph‟s rodents (Tekilu, 2008) and field survey carried out by EWCP from 1997 to 2000,
identified rodent species and attempted to measure biomass but no research looked in detail at
the vegetation and environmental factors that determine the distribution and abundance of
rodents and Ethiopian wolf in this area.
A number of studies Kellert (1985), indicated that people who perceived economic benefits and
enjoy unrestricted access to natural resources usually support ecosystem conservation efforts, but
these did not consider how local communities perceives the Afro-alpine ecosystem and its
endemic wildlife at Mt. Abune Yoseph.
Therefore, this research was conducted to fill the above mentioned gaps of the area by testing the
following leading hypothesis.
1.3. Hypothesis
Community perception towards common natural resources (Afro-alpine ecosystem and
Ethiopian wolf) determines their sustainable utilization.
Ecologic and anthropogenic factors determine the distribution and abundance of
Ethiopian wolf.
3