Crop-raiding animals are one of the major issues around protected areas. The people around Bwindi are poor. They lost full access to the forest when it was gazetted a national park in 1991 and now they suffer crop raiding by wild animals from the park. Crop raiding is not only a threat to these people’s livelihoods but also to the conservation efforts in the park since it is such a delicate issue between the local people and the park management. All over Africa monkey species are declining due to habitat destruction, hunting and live capture. To protect these species there is a need to harmonize people’s opinion with park management practices.

This study was conducted between 2004 and 2005 to investigate the feeding ecology and crop raiding patterns of Red-tailed monkeys (Cercopithecus ascanius) in community land around Bwindi and to explore potential mitigation strategies.

Feeding patterns of the Red-tailed monkey were observed during and outside the fruiting season in the forest and compared with the feeding pattern during harvesting seasons outside the park. The ‘Scan sampling method’ was employed where one group of Red-tailed monkeys was monitored from early morning (8:00 am) to evening (6:00 pm), from May to October 2005. All visible individuals of the group (adult males, adult females, juveniles and infants) were considered. Behavioural data was collected, including crop-raiding . In addition, informants were interviewed on their experiences with crop-raiding monkeys. Mitigation measures employed by farmers to crop raiding by Red-tail monkeys were also compared.

Results indicated that Red-tailed monkeys spend most of their time feeding (45%) and their ranging behaviour is determined by fruit and crop availability. When there are no crops in the fields, the monkeys spend more time inside the protected area, and outside of the fruiting season monkeys spend more time looking for food. Overall crop-raiding by Red-tailed monkeys was low and they could be called opportunistic crop-raiders. Most (60%) of park officials interviewed reported not to have found red-tailed monkeys raiding crops and 20% who were mostly native game rangers reported to have found them raiding several times. Guarding crops for more than six hours per day showed to be the most effective measure farmers employ against crop raiding. But this is not always feasible and a buffer of unpalatable crops like tea seemed successful.

The author recommended mitigation measures like planting hedges with Mauritius thorn, increasing yields through enhanced agricultural practices and compensating people for their loss in crops with money that has been generated through tourism. This would improve people’s attitudes towards the protected area.