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The Murulle Foundation
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Updated: December 11, 2007

Monitoring wildlife in the Lower Omo Valley
(September 2003)

Excerpts from a paper by Richard Engeman, Paul Evangelista, and Jason Roussos to be presented in December 2003 at the International Management Conference in Australia.

In 2002, TMF tested a relatively new method to monitor changes in wildlife populations in the Lower Omo Valley. The Passive Tracking Index (PTI) method, developed by Rick Engemann of the National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins, Colorado, has been successful in North America and Australia for monitoring canids, other carnivores, macropods and other marsupials, and ungulates. Field tests conducted by TMF indicate that the method could also be used effectively in areas similar to the Omo Valley. It is a simple and inexpensive method for monitoring wildlife, which is desperately needed for managment in the region.

TMF's field tests were conducted in a mixture of grasslands, savanna woodlands, and bushlands on the east side of the Omo River. Over 60 mammalian species are known to inhabit the Lower Omo Valley, many being migratory or confined to specific vegetation types. Twenty tracking plots were randomly located along low-use dirt roads, with a minimum inter-plot spacing of 0.5 km. Plots 1.5 m long were raked and smoothed to produce a good tracking base that spanned width of the road (approximately 3 m on average). The soil substrate in the study area provided an excellent tracking surface. After 24 hours, the plots were examined for tracks and spoor and resurfaced (tracks erased and soil smoothed) for the next day's observations. At each plot, the number of track sets (number of intrusions) by each animal species was recorded. A tracker from the local karo tribe was used to identify tracks. We observed each plot for 3 consecutive days. Data were recorded for baboon (Papio anubis), lesser kudu (Tragelaphus imberbis), Guenther's dikdik (Madoqua guentheri), hyaena (Hyaena hyaena or Cocuta crocuta), and guinea fowl (Acryllium vultrinum).

Although the number of animal species represented in this study is relatively small, the population information derived from just these species would be valuable for general management purposes in the Lower Omo Valley. For example, hyaenas were readily monitored and they are prominent among the animals in conflict with humans due to their livestock predation and the occasional attack on humans (Tesfaye Hundase, Director Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Commission, pers. comm.). In contrast, the lesser kudu is a game species of economical importance through sport hunting.