Abstract

Pangolins populations are threatened due to indiscriminate exploitation and incessant destruction of their habitats. They have been ranked as the most trafficked mammals in the world. This study investigates the extent of exploitation of Pangolin in North Central and Southern parts of Nigeria. A structure questionnaire was administered to bush meat marketers and hunters in six states across three vegetation belts of the country. The studied states include; Niger and Kwara in the Guinea Savanna, Oyo in the Southern Guinea Savanna, Ekiti, Ondo and Edo states in the Rain Forest zone of the country. In all, 67 hunters and 27 bush meat marketers were interviewed. The study was carried out in five Months (August-December, 2019). Snowball sampling technique was used to locate the respondents in the study. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Wildlife trading activities in Nigeria were dominated by females (100%). All respondents trading on bush meat in all the states visited were females, many (56%) in their middle and were mostly married (93%) with primary (63%) or secondary (25%) education. Hunting profession due to its nature was however dominated by males (100%) comprises married men (67.2%), widower (19.4%), and singles (13.4%). The survey revealed that 42% of the hunters interviewed were living below poverty line ($1.9 / ₦684 per day). The price range for a matured pangolin in the study areas falls between ₦5,000-₦10,000 only. Almost half (45%) of the respondents agreed that they used pangolin for traditional, food and medicinal purposes in their culture. Pangolin’s meat was generally accepted for consumption by all (100%)   respondents. Many Marketers (70%) confirm that the animals were available for sale in the study area. More than half (59%) of respondent were of the view that pangolin are available for harvest all year round while some  held the view that the month of January (17%), April (13%), and  September (9%) tend to favoured the harvest of pangolin.  Most of the Pangolins (73%) reported by hunters under this study were Terrestrial while few (27%) of them were Arboreal. Hunters (73%) and marketers (82%) observed reduction in pangolin population in recent years.

Key Words: Exploitation, Hunting, Pangolin, Pricing, Trading