Population Status Behavioural Ecology Of Plains Zebra (equus Quagga) And Human-wildlife Conflict In Nechisar National Park Ethiopia

Plains zebra is the most abundant equid in the world. In Ethiopia, the total population size of this species was estimated to be around 2000 individuals. Nechisar National Park holds the largest populations of Plains zebra.The present investigation deals with population status, habitat preference, diurnal activity, feeding habit of Plains zebra (Equus quagga) and human-wild life conflict in Nechisar National Park. Data were collected for two consecutive years including both wet and dry seasons between December, 2017 and April, 2019. The entire study area was divided into five major habitat types. A total of 28 line-transects on five major habitats such as open grassland (7), wooded grassland (6), bushland (7), riverine vegetation (4) and lakeshores (4) were determined. Based on the observability of the animals 700 to 1000 m strip width was considered and fixed. Adjacent transects were at least 1.5-2.0 km apart. The average length of the line-transect was 9.84 km. Counting was carried out through direct observations with naked eye and/or by using binoculars. Diurnal activity pattern of plains zebra was also carried out through direct observations on major activity pattern using a 5 minutes focal animal sampling period. Feeding habit determination was carried out through direct focal animal observation. Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions were also held with the local people. Data were analyzed using population density estimation parameters. A total of 716 individuals of Plains zebra were recorded from the study area. On average 272.25 (38.0%) and 443.75 (62.0%) were recorded during the dry and wet seasons, respectively. The distribution and abundance of the animals varied among habitats and between seasons. Plains zebra showed high preference for grassland followed by wooded grassland and bushland. The record showed maximum diurnal activity pattern for grazing (56.5%) and minimum for grooming (6.6%). From observations of foraging activities, six grass, four herbs and three shrubs species were identified as their common food items. During both seasons, Plains zebra preferred grasses species to others and didn‟t show significant difference (F(5,10)=5.865, P>0.05). Herbs and shrubs were consumed more during the dry season than the wet season. They showed statistically significant variation in the consumption of Herbs (F(3,6)=44.38, P

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