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Hunting intensity in Oban Sector of Cross River National Park, Nigeria was investigated. The methodology involved the recording of signs of hunting activity using line transects, and interviews with hunters. A total of 33 gunshots, 21 spent cartridges, 26 wire snares, presence of 7 hunters and two hunters' camps and other several hunting signs were recorded for a total of 68 km of transects walked. Nine species of mammals were hunted, notably the Chimpanzee Pan troglodytes, Mona monkey (Cercopithecus mona), Puttynose monkey (Cercopithecus nictitans), Red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus), Drill (Mandrillus leucophaeus), Brush-tailed Porcupine (Atherurus africanus), Blue duiker (Cephalophus monticla), Bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus), Ogilby's duiker (Cephalophus dorsalis), Western tree hyrax (Dendrohyrax dorsalis), and Grasscutter (Thryonomys swinderianus). The interviews revealed the most hunted species as the iii Primates (Cercopithecus spp 28.48%), African brush-tailed Porcupine (Atherurus africanus) (37.74%), Blue Duiker (Philantomba monticola) (26.82%), Bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus) (6.96%), Pangolin (Manis tetradactyla), Red river hog (Potamochoerus porcus) and Grasscutter (Thyronomys swinderianus) with the first four being the most commonly hunted. Shotguns and Wire snares were the two main hunting methods used, with the former being used (88.24%) of all the hunters interviewed, and the latter (11.76%) of the hunters. Each hunter set 50 -300 wire snares, of which there were two types: 1) ground snare without fencing (neck wire snare), and 2) ground snare with fencing (foot/leg wire snares. Most of the wire snares hunting take place mainly during the raining season. The study revealed high hunting intensity in Oban Sector of CRNP. Some of the recommended measures to ameliorate the menace include the initiation of public education and awareness programmes, establishment of task forces to check bushmeat hunting, execution of stricter law enforcement, good welfare package for park rangers and more punitive sanctions for offenders. G. A. Lameed et al. 326

The study of bird species diversity and richness in Dagona-Waterfowl Sanctuary was carried out during the midst of both early wet and late dry seasons, to provide comprehensive data on wild birds. Dagona Sanctuary is located within the BadeNguru Wetland sector. It is one of the important bird areas marked for the conservation of avifauna species in sub-Sahara region, Nigeria. Line Transect method was used to carry out birds’ survey at three different lake sites, namely: Gatsu (site:1), Mariam (site: 2) and Oxbow (site: 3). The instruments used were GarminTM 12 Global Positioning System (GPS), a pair of binoculars for bird’s identification, a field guide test- book and a 1,000 meters tape-rule. The data were tested with the Kolmogorov- Smirnov method o determine distribution level and birds’ diversity was assessed using Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index, while parametric tests were applied for all data. The results showed that bird species diversity was normally distributed in all the sites, site 2 had the highest diversity (2.74) compared to site 1: (1.84) and site 3: (1.62). Likewise, bird species richness in the area was normally distributed and significantly different (P<0.05) among the three sites. Site 1 had the highest number of bird species richness (16.36) (Species diversity is different species of birds at the site, while species richness is referring to specific species population), compared to site 2: (14.32) and site 3: (11.51). It was observed that there is a significant relationship between vegetation density and bird species diversity, because as tree density increases, diversity of bird species decreases. Therefore, there is a significant relationship between vegetation density and bird species diversity. A total of 135 bird species in 40 families was recorded during the survey. Seventy-four percent were found in site1, sixty-three percent in site 2 and seventy-one percent in site 3. The majority of wetland birds observed during this study were resident (Ardeidae family), migratory (Accipitridae family) and palearctic species (Yellow Wagtail, Warblers, Northern Shoveler and Sandpipers). It can be concluded that wild birds are good indicators of environmental condition, revealing the state of the wetland. Some sites were more disturbed, as observed in site 1 and site 3. It was, however, recommended that regular monitoring of the sites should be carried out so as to control changes in the state of the wetland ecosystem.

In the last 40 years, threats to the survival of wild primate population have greatly increased. Globally, primate population is severely threatened with extinction especially due to habitat loss from conversion of forest areas to farmland and/or unsustainable logging. There is paucity of information on the population density and abundance of Mona monkeys in Omo Forest Reserve. The population density and distribution of Mona monkeys were conducted in two forest blocks of Omo Forest Reserve (OFR). The objective of the study therefore, is to determine the population density and distribution of Mona monkey, and ascertain the presence of other primate species in sympatric relationship with the monkey. The line transect sampling method was used for the enumeration. Data were collected from seven (7) transects randomly selected from two forest blocks; the Elephant Sanctuary (4) and the Strict Nature Reserve (3). Other primate species were considered to be sympatric with Mona monkeys if they were encountered within 20 m proximity range with the target species. Data on threat of human activities were collected in Omo Forest Reserve based on four major categories (Hunting/Poaching, Logging, Farming, and Collection of Non-Timber Forest Products). Analysis was carried out using IBM SPSS Statistics 20 to determine population density estimate and the relative density in the two forest blocks. The field work took 30 days each, in September, 2015 and March 2016 that covered both seasons. Results revealed that a total number of 57 Mona monkeys with density of 0.44 km −2 in the entire reserve were sighted during the survey. The relative density across the two forest blocks surveyed in the forest reserve revealed that Mona monkeys were present in both the Elephant Sanctuary (ES) (n = 42) and Strict Nature Reserve (SNR) (n = 15) with density of 0.27 km −2 and 0.18 km −2 , respectively. The species were observed to be more active during morning sur-How to cite this paper: Uloko, J.I. and Lameed, G.A. (2019) Preliminary Study of the Population Density of Mona Monkeys (Cercopithecus mona) in Omo Forest Reserve.

Conservation areas, especially national parks, are the major tourism destinations of Sub-Saharan Africa, and wildlife constitutes the key attraction to the region. In Nigeria, the protection of wildlife for tourism is greatly hampered by the dominance of cultural attitudes toward wildlife utilization. The modern concept of protected areas came on board as an imposition from colonial authorities; that excluded the socio-cultural and economic systems of the local communities. People's attitudes to state-instituted wildlife programmes have continued to tilt toward suspicion and distrust, and sometimes outright opposition and conflicts have resulted. Community participation in state wildlife conservation programmes is known to have resolved socioeconomic and political conflicts, and reduced illegal extraction of wildlife resouces to the barest minimum. This study surveyed 4 community-participatory wildlife management programmes in Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe with a view to adapting them to the management of Nigerian National Parks for sustainable tourism. Surveys of the key features of the programmes were compared with current management practice in Nigeria. It was found that the kind of model in which certain share of management and staff composition, added to percentages of profits from conservation projects go to the host communities does not exist in Nigeria. Rather a model known as Support Zone Development programme (SZDP) is in use by the National Park Service (NPS); which allows limited involvement of support zone communities. A drive toward the community-participatory model was recommended as expedient to increase interest and support for state