Assessment Of Species Diversity Of Large Mammals In Chilalo Galema Mountain, Arsi Zone, Ethiopia

Abstract

A study on the assessment of species diversity of large mammals was conducted in Chilalo Galema Mountain in east Arsi administrative zone from February 2017 to July 2017. The main objective of this study was to assess large mammalian species diversity and human-wildlife conflict in Chilalo-Galema Mountain National Park block.Line transects method and observation was used to collect data for the study. Twenty six transect lines were laid, which based on topography of the study site varied in length from 1.41km to 4.34km established to observe large mammal species. Transect width ranged from 200m to 400m depending on vegetation cover and topography of the study site. In this study both primary and secondary data sources were used to conduct the research. To assess mammalian species diversity, direct observation, body parts and vocalization, and indirect evidences such as footprints, burrowing and droppings were used. Observation and direct count of animals were made during 6:00-10:00 a.m. in the morning and 3:00-6:00 p.m. in the late afternoon when most mammals were active in the study area. Species diversity of large mammals were calculated using the Shannon-Weaver index of diversity. The evenness of mammalian species was calculated as J= H’/H’max where H’max= ln(s) and s is the number of species. A total of 28 species that belong to seven Orders (Primates, Artiodactyla, Carnivora, Hyracoidea,Tubulidentata, Rodentia and Lagomorpha) were recorded during this assessment. Out of the 252 recorded mammals in this study 26 (10.08%) were order primates, 50 (19.38%) were order carnivora, 1 (0.39%) were order hyracoidea, 6 (2.33%) were order tubulidentata, 164 (63.57%) were artiodactyla, 8 (3.10%) were rodentia and 2 (0.78%) were lagomorpha. The data presented here indicate that the mammalian fauna of the Chilalo Galema Mountain (ChGM) was dominated by two groups of mammalian orders (the most abundant orders); namely, order artiodactyla and order carnivora, composed of 164 (63.57%) and 50 (19.38%) recorded mammals, respectively. The least abundant was order hyracoidean 1 (0.39%) recorded mammal. Therefore, Chilalo Galema Mountains can serve as important center for conservation of the country's wildlife and tourist attraction area in the future. The present study confirms that the Chilalo Galema Mountain forest contains rich diversity of mammals and hence, its conservation measure should be given a clue attention to save the species in the park.