PERCEPTION AND ATTITUDE OF PEOPLE TOWARDS WILDLIFE IN COMMUNITIES AROUND KAINJI LAKE NATIONAL PARK, NIGER STATE, NIGERIA: IMPLICATION ON BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/JISSI.v2.i1.2026.21Keywords:
Attitude, Households, Crop Raiding, Wildlife ConservationAbstract
The conservation of wildlife resources in Nigeria's Protected Areas (PA), including Kainji Lake National Park (KLNP), is seriously threatened by human activities. Protected areas provide valuable habitats for wildlife and are considered as ecotourism hotspots, globally. Nonetheless, wild animals can have significant impacts on livelihoods of communities surrounding PA. In turn, locals can develop a negative attitude towards wildlife, escalating conflict and undermining conservation initiatives. The longstanding negative attitude of local people towards wildlife originates from losses encountered during the interface. However, there is paucity of information on factors influencing peoples' perception and attitude towards wildlife in KLNP. Therefore, this study was designed to examine the factors influencing perception and attitude of people towards wildlife in KLNP. Communities were stratified into three groups: A (<3 km), B (3-6 km) and C (>6 km), based on their distances from KLNP boundary. Using a sampling intensity of 30%, proportionate to size, 23 communities (A=7, B=8 and C=8) were purposively selected based on accessibility. A total of three hundred and twenty two (322) household heads were conveniently selected from the sampled communities and considered for this study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression at α0.05. Majority (66.1%) of the respondents are male who were between the ages of 41 and 50 (36.3%), and they are mostly farmers (52.8%) with an annual income ranging from ₦100,000-₦200,000.00. Significant positive predictors of household attitude towards wild animals were income (β=2.14) and education (β=1.01), while significant negative predictors were crop raiding (β=-0.92) and livestock depredation (β =-1.19) in communities A (R2=0.41). Gender (β=0.63) and crop raiding (β=-2.15) were significant positive and negative predictors of respondents’ attitude in communities B (R2=0.23). Only destruction of stored food (β =0.171) was a significant positive predictor of households’ attitude in communities C (R2=0.36). Income (β=1.527) and education (β=1.228) were significant positive predictors of perception in category A while income (β=2.446) and education (β=0.942) predicted respondents’ perception in communities under category C (R2=0.17). Expansion of formal and adult education as well as livelihood diversification (skills acquisition programs) would go a long way in improving community attitude towards wildlife.
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