TITLE:
Evaluation of the Anti-Poaching Programme of the Cross River National Park Okwango Division, Nigeria 2002 to 2013
AUTHORS:
Augustine Ugar Ogogo, Sijah Agbor Asuk, Rebecca Victor Ikpeme
KEYWORDS:
Evaluation, Anti-Poaching, Cross River National Park, Okwango, Nigeria
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Forestry,
Vol.4 No.5,
October
21,
2014
ABSTRACT: Poaching of wildlife has continued to be the major problem confronting national parks managers in Nigeria in spite of effort being made to curb the ugly trend. This paper examined the anti-poaching programme of the Cross River National Park Okwango Division Nigeria from 2002 to 2013, with a view to making recommendations for the improvement of the programme. Focused group discussions, personal interviews, review of official records and structured questionnaires were used to collect data. Analysis of variance using randomized complete block design and student’s t-test were used to analyse data. Result showed that 1 - 5 arrests of poachers per month per patrol station was significantly (P 0.05) in the number of poachers arrested and fined between 2002 to 2006 and 2007 to 2011. The low performance of the anti-poaching programme was attributed to poorly equipped rangers’ posts as well as well the absence of alternative livelihood options in the enclave and surrounding communities. It was recommended that more rangers should be employed, and the rangers should be adequately kitted, well equipped patrol stations be constructed and the enclave and surrounding communities be involved in the management of the National Park in addition to providing them with alternative livelihood options.