International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies ISSN 2028-9324 Vol. 25 No. 2 Jan. 2019, pp. 638-644 © 2019 Innovative Space of Scientific Research Journals http://www.ijias.issr-journals.org/ Corresponding Author: Etienne M. DOSSOU 638 Common hippopotamus-human conflicts in Ouémé River area in central Benin Republic Etienne M. DOSSOU 1 , Laurent G. HOUESSOU 2 , Toussaint O. LOUGBEGNON 1 , and Jean T. Claude CODJIA 1 1 National University of Agriculture, BP 95 Kétou, Benin 2 Faculty of Agronomy, University of Parakou, Benin Copyright © 2019 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. ABSTRACT: The common hippopotamus belongs to the threatened species that urgently need conservation programs. In this perspective, a study on the relationships between the species and human was conducted in areas surrounding the Ouémé River in Benin. This study aims to assess the types of damages caused by hippopotamus and conflict mitigation solutions- in order to facilitate pacific cohabitation between hippopotamus and human. A total of 180 people were interviewed in 6 villages using structured and semi-structured interviews. Our results indicated that the main damage caused by common hippopotamus was crops raiding (81.67 % respondents). Most respondents (53.89 %) declared that hippopotamus caused damage to their crops in farmland during the whole year, but period for raids varied significantly between villages (χ2= 57.926, p < 0.0001). This study highlights the necessity to implement mitigation measures in order to promote pacific cohabitation between hippo and human. KEYWORDS: Human-wildlife conflict, Mitigation measures, Hippopotamus amphibius, Crops damages. 1 INTRODUCTION Human-wildlife conflicts, are recurrent issues in wildlife conservation throughout the world, and have negative impacts on both human and wildlife populations [1]. It became a threat to the survival of many species, in particular to large herbivores such as the African elephant Loxodonta africana the common hippopotamus Hippopotamus amphibius and the Buffalo Syncerus caffer [2], [3], [4] but also to carnivores such as the lion Panthera leo, the leopard Panthera pardus, the hyaena Crocuta crocuta and the crocodile Crocodylus niloticus [5]. The destruction of crops, attacks on fishermen by the destruction of canoe nets/attacks, livestock depredation and loss of life are frequently forms of conflict observed with wildlife [6], [7], [8]. The fast human population growth, land use change, species habitat loss and climatic factors are previously reported as major factors which contributed to the aggravation of human-wildlife conflicts in Africa [9], [10], [11]. Human-hippopotamus conflict is a key example of such an interaction in Africa. The hippopotamus is a large mammal belonging to the Hippopotamidae family (suborder of Artiodactyla, order of Ungulates). [12] estimated that the common hippopotamus population were reduced by 7 to 20% the last century. This decline was attributed to human activities consequences, mainly habitat loss as wetlands are converted or impacted by agricultural development. According to [13], [14] during the last few decades, hippopotamus decline results mostly in the human-hippopotamus conflicts. These conflicts result not only in serious threats to hippopotamus population but have negative impacts on local economy and population livelihood due to crops destruction [4]. In Benin, apart from the protected areas where hippopotamus is well secured, their presence in the Ouémé River outside protected areas remain a great challenge for wildlife managers despite the species status [15]. The issue is evident in Ouémé river - one of the last refuge of common hippopotamus in central Benin, where the human and wildlife interactions continue to increase because of the changing human demographics and the related land use practices [16]. In this situation, a better understanding of the causes of the human-hippopotamus conflicts are essential for the development and implementation of effective mitigation strategies [2]. Unfortunately, few authors have considered the human-hippopotamus conflicts in Benin and in study area especially. Therefore, this study was implemented as a case study of human-hippopotamus conflicts in Benin and intend to find effective solutions for a pacific cohabitation between human and