Assessment of Hunters and Other Rate of Illegal Activities in Afi-Mbe-Okwango Division, Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

Bushmeat hunting is one of the greatest pressure to wildlife alongside habitat fragmentation, deforestation, land use change and climate change. Despite the interventions from government and Non Governmental Organization to reduce or divert the attention of rural people from the wild by providing alternative livelihood, the level of hunting either remains the same or kept on increasing. However, there is need to categorize and understand the types of hunters in different locality for better design and management of whatever alternative to be provided. The study assessed hunters’ types and their income made from hunting in Afi, Mbe and the Okwango Division of the National park and the rate of poaching activities. The snowball sampling was adopted for gathering data. A descriptive and inferential statistical tool was used to analyze the data collected. The respondents were interviewed with a view to obtaining information on the regularity of their hunting activities, the income made per month and reasons why they hunt and also their views on best alternative. Results revealed that majority of the respondent fall within the age of less than or equal to 40 years with primary and secondary school qualification in which are married with 3 - 12 children. Consequent to this fact hunting activities is effective and prevailing. It further revealed that despite numerous conservation efforts in these areas, poaching activities still prevail owing to the fact that the income made from poaching is much better than the alternative provided for hunters. Furthermore, the assessment also revealed that there are different types of hunters and this makes their income varies greatly. Thus, there are fulltime or core hunters (36.9%), occasional hunters (58.3%), Holiday hunters (2.9%) and social hunters (1.9%). It is therefore paramount to have a better view and understanding of the target group (Poachers) for better alternative and implementation.