Challenges of Wildlife Park Management in Kainji Lake National Park

Abstract

Wildlife management is at the heart of wildlife tourism in any protected areas. While some effort have been made to understand how wildlife is managed in developed and some developing countries using quantitative approach, there is scarcity of such investigation using qualitative approach. Thus, this paper explored wildlife management practice in Kainji Lake National Park in Nigeria. Ten in-depth interviews were conducted with staff of the park; they were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was used to examine and understand patterns in the transcript which led to generation of themes. The study revealed that the park is an embodiment of valuable animals that should be well protected for the growth and development of wildlife ecotourism, and the main management practices are free range method, patrol and camera capture approach. The study also found that the management practice is faced with some challenges which include use of obsolete equipment, lack of regular maintenance of patrol vehicles and personnel resulting from poor funding. Other challenges are illegal farming, hunting, logging and fishing. Based on these findings, the study recommended that there should an effective public-private partnership on wildlife park management and arrangements that encourage community participation in tourism development through the establishment of community base tourism enterprises and strict implementation of regulations guiding against illegal activities in the park..