Abstract

This study was carried out in Korup Region to investigate the reasons for hunting preuss’s red colobus (PRC) in Korup National Park (KNP) Cameroon in order to contribute to its sustainable management. Questionnaires (open and closed end) were used to gather personal information from hunters on different hunting tactics, reasons for hunting PRC and threats to this species in KNP for a period of one month (January 2014). One hundred and eighty-seven hunters responded to questionnaires that were distributed in all 5 villages in the park and 5 other villages randomly selected from the 23 villages surrounding KNP. Excel software was used and all variables were used to calculate relative proportions. Results showed that 53.5% of hunters use shotguns and 46.5% use both shotgun and wire snares in hunting. Majority of the hunters (46%) practice both hunting and farming, 32% practice solely hunting, 18% practice hunting and fishing, and 4% practice hunting, farming and fishing. A large proportion (73.3%) of hunters does hunt PRC for protein and income. However, 45.3% of them do not eat PRC because of its bad odour, and 22% do not eat it because the meat is hard. Hunters in KNP depend on hunting for their survival. Therefore, this calls for conservation action, such as introducing an alternative source of livelihood and protein to hunters, which will help to improve their standard of living and supply protein for their healthy growth, thereby discouraging hunting.

Key words: Hunting, Korup National Park, anthropogenic activity, survival, Procolobus preussi.