Adedoyin et al., Journal of Research in Forestry, Wildlife & Environment Vol. 10(1) March, 2018 http://www.ajol.info/index.php/jrfwe jfewr ©2017 - jfewr Publications 49 E-mail:
[email protected] ISBN: 2141 – 1778 This work is licensed under a Adedoyin et al., 2018 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License PRELIMINARY SURVEYOFPRIMATES IN OLD OYO NATIONAL PARK BUFFER ZONE, NIGERIA *Adedoyin, S.O; Aremu, O.T and Emelue, G.U Department of Forest Resources and Wildlife Management, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin-City, Nigeria *Correspondence Author:
[email protected] Phone Number: +2347085584878 ABSTRACT Many of buffer zones surrounding Nigerian protected areas are under-managed. The study examined the abundance, distribution and population structure of some primates’ species: Patas monkey (Erythrocebus patas), Olive baboon (Papio anubis) and Green monkey (Cercopithecus aethiops) in Old Oyo National Park buffer zone. Five 3×2 km transects were laid in the buffer zone of all the ranges (Ogun-Tede, Marguba, Sepeteri, Oyo-Ile and Yemoso) of the Park. The transects were traversed for a period of 12 months. Observations were based on direct censusing techniques only. The wet season results showed that Ogun-Tede had the highest primate species relative abundance of 5.67 (±0.2814)/km2followed by Yemoso with 3.17 (±0.1471)/km2, while Marguba range had the lowest primate species relative abundance of 1.17 (±0.0557)/km2.Erythrocebus patas had the highest number of individuals in a group per square kilometer 0.0560 (±0.0168), while Cercopithecus aethiops had the least number of individuals in a group per square kilometer 0.0093 (0.0047).