An ecological study of the domestic dogs on the Web Valley in the Bale Mountains
was conducted by Anagaw Atickem in partial fulfilment of his MSc degree, in
collaboration with Addis Ababa University. Key findings include:
• The density of domestic dogs is greater than that of Ethiopian wolves
• All dogs in wolf range are owned.
• A small proportion of the dogs (<3%), move relatively widely in the habitat. These
dogs have frequent and often close interactions with Ethiopian wolves.
• Dogs have two functions for the people: i) they reduce depredation of domestic livestock by spotted hyenas by acting as an ‘early-warning’ system, and ii) they keep the villages and hamlets clean of human refuse, including livestock carcasses, food preparation waste and human faeces.
• Only 2% of 362 households in the Web valley have any sort of protective enclosure for livestock at night.

A random interview survey of households in all villages and hamlets in the Bale Mountains was also carried out following the rabies outbreak in 2003. The aim of this survey was to determine the track of the disease through the domestic dog population, the economic cost through loss of livestock and the health risk to people through the number of people bittenby rabid animals.

Relevant publications

Admasu, E., 2001 The ecology of small wild carnivores in the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia. MSc thesis, Addis Ababa University

Admasu, E., Thirgood, S.J., Bekele, A. & Laurenson, M.K. (2004) Spatial ecology of golden jackal in farmland in the Ethiopian Highlands. African Journal of Ecology 42:144-152

Admasu, E., Thirgood, S.J., Bekele, A. & Laurenson, M.K. (2004) Spatial ecology of white-tailed mongoose in farmland in the Ethiopian Highlands. African Journal of Ecology 42:153-159

Admasu, E., Thirgood, S.J., Bekele, A. & Laurenson, M.K. (2004) A note on the spatial ecology of African civet and common genet in farmland in the Ethiopian Highlands. African Journal of Ecology 42:160-162