Poaching and its impact on Wildlife Population in Ise Forest Reserve, Ekiti State

Abstract

Poaching wildlife for food is a major threat to wildlife conservation in Nigeria where the demand for bushmeat is ever-increasing, decimating wildlife resources in the protected areas. This study examines poaching and its impact on wildlife populations in Ise forest reserve, Ise-Ekiti, Ekiti State. Twenty-one forest officials and 23 hunters were interviewed using pre-tested structured questionnaires. Market surveys and short reconnaissance surveys were also carried out to sample animal species being poached and data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results show that 90.5% of the respondents were married and 61.9 % had no formal education. The majority (85.7%) combined hunting with farming and 52.4% earned between ₦20,000 and ₦30,000 monthly while 43.5% used Dane-gun, snare (30.4%), and traps (23.9%) and 67.86% hunt at night with 74.1% hunting ungulates with at least 2 kills per week. However, 85.7% agreed to a sharp decline in species being hunted with habitat destruction (52%), habitat fragmentation (40%), and slash and burn (8%) being the major threat to wildlife population in the reserve. Additionally, the prohibition of the unauthorized entry (52.8%), issuance of a hunting license (41.7%), and regulating hunting seasons (5.6%) would curb illegal hunting in the reserve. Additionally, the prohibition of the unauthorized entry (52.8%), issuance of a hunting license (41.7%), and regulating hunting seasons (5.6%) would curb illegal hunting in the reserve. There is the need for active participation of the communities around the forest reserve in the planning and implementation of forest policies for the conservation of the animal diversity within the reserve for posterity.