Marketing and utilization of Herpetofauna species around Kainji lake National Park, Nigeria

The study identified the available herpetofauna species being marketed around Kainji Lake National Park,Nigeria. Socio-economic importance and traders' methods of marketing herpetofauna were determined. Datawere collected from sevenmajormarkets around the Parkwith awell-structured questionnaire administered on 62 marketers of herpetofauna resources that were encountered on market days. Results indicated that 32.2% of the respondents had primary education. Snakes were marketed by 8.0% of the respondents, 6.5% marketed tortoise/turtle, crocodile (19.3%), monitor lizard (24.1%), chameleons (16.1%), Agama lizard (8%), and frogs (17.7%).Majority of the marketers (48.3%) hunted the animals themselves while 51.7.2% got them from hunters. Monitor lizard was the most marketed herpetofauna species in the surveyed markets. There is the need for concerted efforts at developing conservation plans for herpetofauna conservation in communities around Kainji LakeNational Park.