KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES OF COMMUNITIES ON SMALL MAMMALIAN CARNIVORES IN MBOMIPA WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA, IRINGA, TANZANIA.

The term Wildlife Management Area (WMA) refers to an area set aside by village governments and gazetted by the Government for the purpose of conserving natural resources, improving the life standard of communities and alleviating poverty across rural areas in Tan zania. With an area of 771 km 2 , MBOMIPA is among the three WMA’s bordering Ruaha National Park in Iringa region with large number of animals. However, litt le has been documented on small mammalian carnivores (SMC) in the area. This study was therefore designed to assess communiti es’ knowledge and attitudes on trends and threats of SMC in the area. Structured questionnaires were used for collecting informat ion from village game scouts, local tourist hunters (campsite attendants, hunters guide, drivers and tour guides). Eleven SMC s pecies were reported in the current study, viz. Black backed jackal, Aardwolf, Bat eared Fox, Zorilla, Cape clawless otter, Striped weasel, African civet, Wild cat, Caracal, Honey badger, and Banded mongoose. Eighteen respondents reported an increase of SMC despite presence of many threats against their survival. Competition (20.8%) and fire (16.5%) were reported to be the leading factors threatening the SMC in the area. Infor mation gathered from this study was considered important for wildlife managers when implementing conservation activities and future research on SMC.