Trade in Non-Mammalian Wild Animals for Traditional African Medicine in Ogun State, Nigeria

Abstract

A steady rise in the patronage for Traditional African Medicine (TAM) has necessitated a corresponding increase in the demand for the ingredients used in the preparation of the tradomedicines. These ingredients are the various wild animals and plants parts. The attendant rise in this demand for ingredients calls for a need to document the extent of utilisation of these natural resources involved as a measure of the impact of such trade on biodiversity conservation. This paper examined diversity of molluscan, reptilian and avian species traded for use in TAM; the quantity of each species traded for utilisation over a period of time, and seasonal fluctuations in abundance and utilisation of these species as an index of utilisation pressure on populations in the wild. A multi-stage stratified random sampling technique was employed. An open-ended questionnaire was administered on vendors in selected market stalls for six consecutive markets days in each of dry and rainy seasons. The study identified twenty-three species, 8 were listed in CITES and Nigerian Decree 11(1985). A total of 3196 (molluscan), 2527 (reptilian), 2894 (avian) carcasses were traded over an average period of twenty days.