Assessment of naked mole-rat distribution and threats in Eastern Ethiopia

Objective:To identify the distribution,threats and community attitudes towards naked mole-rat in Eastern Ethiopia.Methods:Data were collected through direct observation and interview and Chi-square at 95%confidence interval was used for significance test.Results:Naked mole-rat was identified in Fafan,City/Shinele,Eastern Hararghe Zone and Dire Dawa Administrative.The main threats of naked mole-rat identified were agricultural expansion,human killing and lack of awareness.From a total of 100 respondents,92%of them considered naked mole-rat as pest as a result that 46%of them participated in direct killing.Literacy rate significantly affects the willingness to participate in the conservation of naked mole-rat(χ^(2)=7.478,df=1,P<0.05).From a total of 26%respondents who did not show the willingness to participate in the conservation,80.8%of them were illiterate.Conclusions:Naked mole-rat is fairly common in many of the study sites.However,rapid shift from nomadic life style to cultivation of crops and lacks of awareness were the main threats of naked mole-rat.Therefore,since there is no conservation action currently,further comprehensive study is required to design conservation plan for this species.