Understanding land use and land cover changes and their underlying dynamics is critical to land reclamation and biodiversity management in mining enclaves and deceleration of desertification in the vast Zamfara Sahel of Northwestern Nigeria. This paper presents a quantitative analysis of land cover changes in the gold mining enclaves of Anka, Bukkuyum and Maru Local Government Areas in Zamfara State, Nigeria. Data were aggregated from field trips, remote sensing and geographical information system technologies and archives. Data and satellite images from three time periods of 1987, 2002 and 2020 were used for the analysis. The images were captured on yearly degradation rates of LULC classes within 100m, 200m and 300m of protected areas. Five LULC classes were identified and twenty-five transition classes were mapped out using GIS technology. Analysis shows bare ground/ built-up/rock outcrop LULC class expanded as mining activities had deleterious impacts on the land cover of the enclaves.
This study assessed the conservation status and habitat preference of Common warthog in Old Oyo National Park, Nigeria using direct sighting and line transect method. The abundance estimate and encounter rate of common Warthog in the study area from 2018-2019 showed that year 2018 recorded 213 individuals at an encounter rate of 0.38/km while year 2019 recorded 184 individuals at an encounter rate of 0.32/km while the mean abundance estimate of common Warthog are 4.65±0.64 and 1.71±0.48 which represents 156 and 58 individuals at encounter rate of 0.55/km and 0.20/km in the wet season and dry season of year 2018 compared to year 2019 with average abundance estimate value of 4.00±0.85 and 1.41±0.61 which represents 135 and 48 individuals at an encounter rate of 0.47/km and 0.17/km for wet and dry season respectively. The mean age structure and sex ratio of the observed warthog population during dry and wet seasons revealed that juveniles had highest mean of age structures among the populations observed across the seasons. The habitat preference of common warthog revealed that they are mostly found in mixed woodland and open savanna with 112 observation and the lowest was recorded in the outcrop vegetation and open savanna with 21 individuals.in the wet season. During the dry season, mixed woodland/open savanna and Riparian grassland had the highest sightings of 45 and 33 individuals each. The outcrop vegetation/open savanna had the lowest observation of 1 individuals only. The study also recommends that more aspect of the ecology of the animal should be studied in details and emphasis should be placed on the habitat requirements.
Keywords: Conservation, Estimate, Status, Warthog
African gaint land snails are important as means of alleviating acute protein shortage in Nigeria livestock Industries. The present study aimed to study the influence of intensive and extensive management systems on the growth Performance of adult African Giant Land Snails (Archachatina marginata) was carried out in the wildlife domestication unit of the Department of Forest Resources and Wildlife Management, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria. Ninety African giant land snails (A. marginata) of average body weight 160.31g ± 0.38g were used for the study. The snails were grouped into two- Group A and Group B. 45 snails in group A were raised in an intensive system of management while 45 snails in group B were raised in an extensive system of management. The data collected on weight gain, shell length increment and shell width increment during the experiment were subjected to student t-Test at 5% significant level. Results showed that there was a significant difference at (p<0.05) in the weight gain. The intensive management system had a higher weight gain of 128.96g with mean value of 4.96 while the extensive management system had a weight gain of 88.37g with mean value of 3.40. There was no significant difference at (p>0.05) in the shell length increment. The snails in the extensive management system had the higher shell length increment of 5.32cm with mean value of 0.20 while the snails in the intensive management system had a shell length increment of 2.43cm with mean value of 0.09. There was a significant difference at (p<0.05) in the shell width increment. The snails in the extensive management system had the higher shell width increment of 9.31cm with mean value of 0.36 while the snails in the intensive management system had a shell width increment of 4.30cm with mean value of 0.17. The snails in the intensive system had a Feed Conversion Ratio of 5.03. For better growth performance of A. marginata in terms of weight gain, snail farmers should raise their snails in an intensive system of management and formulated diet should be used in feeding the snails along side with natural feed such as leaves and fruits.
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