Volume 21, Number 8—August 2015
Dispatch
Human–Bat Interactions in Rural West Africa
Priscilla Anti, Michael Owusu, Olivia Agbenyega, Augustina Annan, Ebenezer Kofi Badu, Evans Ewald Nkrumah, Marco Tschapka, Samuel Oppong, Yaw Adu-Sarkodie, and Sung Sup Park
Table
Modes of human–bat contact and purposes of cave visitation, Ghana, 2011–2012*
| Contact |
Community, no. (%) |
||
| Buoyem, n = 412 |
Forikrom, n = 362 |
Kwamang, n = 500 |
|
| Respondents reporting bat contact | 263 (63.8) | 244 (67.4) | 334 (66.8) |
| In houses through broken ceilings | 69 (16.7) | 51 (14.1) | 65 (13) |
| In bat roosts on farms | 41 (10) | 28 (7.7) | 63 (12.6) |
| In caves | 129 (31.3) | 161 (44.5) | 187 (37.5) |
| At work places | 0 | 1 (0.3) | 0 |
| In school buildings | 24 (5.8) | 3 (0.8) | 5 (1) |
| In other areas | 0 | 0 | 14 (2.8) |
| Respondents visiting bat caves | 181 (43.9) | 178 (49.3) | 222 (44.4) |
| For religious activities | 19 (4.6) | 79 (21.8) | 5 (1) |
| For recreation | 58 (14.1) | 73 (20.2) | 46 (9.2) |
| To collect bat guano | 0 | 14 (3.9) | 2 (0.4) |
| To fetch water | 1 (0.2) | 0 | 123 (24.6) |
| To hunt for bats | 102 (24.8) | 6 (1.7) | 10 (2) |
| To farm | 9 (2.2) | 17 (4.7) | 33 (6.6) |
| For other reasons | 2(0.5) | 5 (1.4) | 14 (2.8) |
*Data based on focus group discussions and stratified household surveys (Technical Appendix).
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Page updated: July 15, 2015
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