The global decline of many vulture populations due to anthropogenic activities is increasing and is largely connected to cases of poisoning. The objectives of this study were to access local perceptions and knowledge of vulture declines, and to determine the ethno-cultural uses of vulture body parts across southwest Nigeria. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered through interviews with randomly selected respondents (n = 144) between August 2018 and July 2019. Results showed that 82.5% (n = 119) of respondents confirmed the sharp decline in vulture populations. 79.8% (n = 115) of respondents considered poisoning to be the cause of vulture deaths in the study area and 79.8% (n = 117) confirmed the need to conserve the remaining vultures. 80.5% (n = 116) of respondents reported that vultures play a key role in Yoruba traditional settings. Vulture parts (organs) were reported as being important in ethno-cultural traditional benefits ranging from curing ailments, to making financial fortune to enhancing dreams, having visions about the future, healing and magic use. Conservation education and public awareness to shift the public mindset away from the use of vultures for rituals and healing purposes and the resultant negative effect of extirpation and extinction is the only way forward.

The study assessed the relative abundance and vegetation structure of African buffalo (Syncerus caffer) including plant parameters: frequency, diameter at breast height (dbh), tree height, diversity, evenness, richness, Margalef, dominance in Kainji Lake National Park. Point – Centered Quarter method was used for woody species enumeration. A total of twenty-eight (28) randomly sampled plots of 150m by 100m given 112 points per plot were established in the study area. The abundance and distribution, tree frequencies, heights, dbh and plant biodiversity indices were calculated using the Paleontological Statistics Software (PAST) for scientific data analysis. The results revealed that relative abundance of African buffalo in both morning and evening of dry and wet seasons in various habitats of the Park were 13.33 ± 4.41 and 11.33 ± 4.40 respectively. The study showed the highest mean value of 21.75 ± 6.94 representing 87 individuals in dry season compared to wet season with mean value of 15.25 ± 5.11 representing 61 individuals. A total of 91 woody plant species and 29 tree families were recorded in African buffalo habitats representing 80, 77, 68 and 59 tree species respectively. The highest average girth size of tree species was class between >10cm -50cm with 59.14 ± 4.06 and the highest mean tree height was height class of >3 - 10m with 91.43 ± 5.44. There were significant differences at (p<0.05) between the values of dbh, tree height, diversity, richness and evenness of plant species recorded in different habitats studied in the Park.