Chimpanzee in Ethno-Primatological Practices and It Implications for Biodiversity Conservation: Kimbi-Fungom National Park and Kom-Wum Forest Reserve, Cameroon

摘要

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes ellioti) in ethno-primatological practices among the indigenous people and the implications for biodiversity conservation in the Kimbi-Fungom National Park (K-FNP) and Kom-Wum Forest Reserve (KWFR), was undertaken to investigate indigenous people perceptions of human-chimpanzee interactions and the effects on wildlife sustainability and biodiversity conservation. Data collections were obtained with the help of interviewer-administered questionnaire, informal interview using unstructured script, palaces/markets gathering discussion and direct field observations of trade. Surveys were carried out in twenty two villages purposefully selected based on their locations and human activities within the proximity of the park and reserve. A total of 288 interviewers were completed during the study. Most of the respondents 94%, 72% and 98% reported that chimpanzee's body parts/meats are used for medicinal value, rituals and as food in special occasion respectively. About 36 diseases/conditions were randomly reported to be treated by 22 different chimpanzee's body parts/meat. The usual price of a matured chimpanzee was reported to be in between 75,000-250,000 francs.cfa. Equally, the unsustainable hunting of chimpanzees for body parts/meat was explored to be cause by loss of traditional taboos and totemic beliefs, influx of new cultural practices from Nigeria and within, poverty increment that hinders modern health assurance couple with the fact that protective laws are both less well known and less appreciated. As such, it is imperative that strategies should be put in place to effectively get rid of human activities that negatively impact on biodiversity conservation of chimpanzees in the vicinity of the park and reserve.