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Okomu National Park: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 05:28, 21 April 2026

West Africa > Nigeria > Okomu National Park

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Summary

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  • Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti) are likely absent in Okomu National Park.
  • The population has likely been extirpated.
  • The site has a total size of 224 km².
  • Key threats to chimpanzees are poaching and habitat loss due to logging and agriculture.
  • Conservation activities at the site include patrols, habitat protection and education in local communities.


Site characteristics

Located in southwestern Nigeria, the site was upgraded from wildlife sanctuary to national park in 1999 (Nwankwo & Halilu 2020).

Table 1. Basic site information for Okomu National Park

Species Pan troglodytes ellioti
Area 224 km²
Coordinates Lat: 6.252 , Lon: 5.268
Type of site Protected area (National Park)
Habitat types Subtropical/tropical moist lowland forest, Subtropical/tropical heavily degraded former forest
Type of governance Shared governance

Types of sites Governance types Habitat types

Ape status

Chimpanzees have no been seen at the site in the last few decades. Annual camera trap surveys conducted by ANI since 2023 have not captured chimpanzees (Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026).

Table 2. Ape population estimates reported for Okomu National Park

Species Year Occurrence Encounter or vistation rate (nests/km; ind/day) Density estimate [ind./ km²] (95% CI) Abundance estimate (95% CI) Survey area Sampling method Analytical framework Source Comments A.P.E.S. database ID
Pan troglodytes ellioti 2023 Absent Okomu National Park Camera trap Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026
Pan troglodytes ellioti 2024 Absent Okomu National Park Camera trap Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026
Pan troglodytes ellioti 2025 Absent Okomu National Park Camera trap Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026
Pan troglodytes ellioti 2026 Absent Okomu National Park Camera trap Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026

Sampling methods Analytical frameworks

Threats

Table 3. Threats to apes reported for Okomu National Park

Category Specific threats Threat level Description Year of threat
2 Agriculture & aquaculture 2.1.1 Shifting agriculture Medium (30-70% of population affected) Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
4 Transportation & service corridors 4.1 Roads & railroads Low (up to 30% of population affected) Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
5 Biological resource use 5.1.1 Subsistence bushmeat hunting High (more than 70% of population affected) Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 2022-Ongoing (2026)
5 Biological resource use 5.1.3 Commercial bushmeat trade High (more than 70% of population affected) Driven by commerce (Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026). Ongoing (2026)
5 Biological resource use 5.3.1 Subsistence logging High (more than 70% of population affected) Driven by commerce, not large-scale operations (Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026). Ongoing (2026)
6 Human intrusions & disturbance 6.2 Conflict, civil unrest & security activities Medium (30-70% of population affected) Threat to rangers conducting patrols (Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026). Ongoing (2026)
8 Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases 8.1 Invasive non-native/alien species Low (up to 30% of population affected) Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)

Threats

Conservation activities

Table 4. Conservation activities reported for Okomu National Park

Category Specific activity Description Implementing organization(s) Year of activity
2 Counter-wildlife crime 2.3 Conduct regular anti-poaching patrols Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service Ongoing (2026)
2 Counter-wildlife crime 2.6 Regularly de-activate/remove ground snares Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service Ongoing (2026)
2 Counter-wildlife crime 2.7 Provide better equipment (e.g., guns) to anti-poaching ranger patrols Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service 2022-Ongoing (2026)
2 Counter-wildlife crime 2.8 Provide training to anti-poaching ranger patrols Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service Ongoing (2026)
2 Counter-wildlife crime 2.11 Implement monitoring surveillance strategies (e.g., SMART) or use monitoring data to improve effectiveness of wildlife law enforcement patrols Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service Ongoing (2026)
2 Counter-wildlife crime 2.12 Implement community control of patrolling, banning hunting and removing snares Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service Ongoing (2026)
2 Counter-wildlife crime 2.13 Provide sustainable alternative livelihoods; establish fish- or domestic meat farms Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service Ongoing (2026)
2 Counter-wildlife crime 2.14 Employ hunters in the conservation sector to reduce their impact Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service Ongoing (2026)
4 Education & awareness 4.1 Educate local communities about apes and sustainable use Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service Ongoing (2026)
4 Education & awareness 4.2 Involve local community in ape research and conservation management Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service Ongoing (2026)
4 Education & awareness 4.4 Regularly play TV & radio announcements to raise ape conservation awareness Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service Ongoing (2026)
4 Education & awareness 4.5 Implement multimedia campaigns using theatre, film, print media, discussions Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service Ongoing (2026)
4 Education & awareness 4.6 Integrate religion/local taboos into conservation education Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service Ongoing (2026)
5 Protection & restoration 5.1 Create buffer zones around protected ape habitat Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service Ongoing (2026)
5 Protection & restoration 5.2 Legally protect ape habitat Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service 1999-Ongoing (2026)
5 Protection & restoration 5.5 Demarcate and enforce boundaries of protected areas Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service Ongoing (2026)
5 Protection & restoration 5.6 Habitat restoration Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service Ongoing (2026)
5 Protection & restoration 5.8 Restrict number of people that are allowed access to site Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service Ongoing (2026)
5 Protection & restoration 5.9 Resettle illegal human communities (i.e., in a protected area) to another location Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service Ongoing (2026)
7 Economic & other incentives 7.1 Provide monetary benefits to local communities for sustainably managing their forest and its wildlife (e.g., REDD, alternative income, employment) Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service Ongoing (2026)
7 Economic & other incentives 7.2 Provide non-monetary benefits to local communities for sustainably managing their forest and its wildlife (e.g., better education, infrastructure development) Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Africa Nature Investors (ANI), National Park Service Ongoing (2026)

Conservation activities

Challenges

Table 5. Challenges reported for Okomu National Park

Challenges Specific challenges Source Year(s)
1 Site management 1.1 Need for improved leadership Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
1 Site management 1.2 Need for improved coordination Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
1 Site management 1.3 Corruption Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
1 Site management 1.4 Conflict on land tenure Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
2 Resources and capacity 2.1 Lack of capacity/training Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
2 Resources and capacity 2.2 Lack of staff Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
2 Resources and capacity 2.3 General lack of funding Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
2 Resources and capacity 2.4 Lack of continuous/long-term funding Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
2 Resources and capacity 2.5 Lack of equipment Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
2 Resources and capacity 2.6 Lack of biomonitoring/survey data Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
2 Resources and capacity 2.7 Lack of infrastructure Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
2 Resources and capacity 2.8 Lack of evidence of conservation effectiveness Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
3 Engaged community 3.1 General lack of community engagement or support Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
3 Engaged community 3.2 Lack of youth engagement Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
3 Engaged community 3.3 Lack of volunteers Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
3 Engaged community 3.4 Eroding taboos in favor of conservation Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
3 Engaged community 3.5 Anticipated disadvantages/costs created by conservation activities (e.g., restricted access/ resource use) Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
4 Institutional support 4.1 Lack of law enforcement Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
4 Institutional support 4.2 Lack of government support Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
4 Institutional support 4.4 Lack of transboundary cooperation Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
5 Ecological context 5.1 Ecological constraints (e.g., susceptibility to climate change, difficult terrain) Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
6 Safety and stability 6.1 Political/economic instabilty Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
6 Safety and stability 6.2 Insecurity Morakinyo pers. comm. 2026 Ongoing (2026)
Not reported

Challenges

Enablers

Table 6. Enablers reported for Okomu National Park

Enablers Specific enablers Source Year(s)
1 Site management
2 Resources and capacity
3 Engaged community
4 Institutional support
5 Ecological context
6 Safety and stability

Enablers

Research activities

Documented behaviours

Table 7. Behaviours documented for Okomu National Park

Category Behavior Observation type Prevalence Observation dates Source Habituation Species Comment
Not reported

Behaviours

Exposure to climate change impacts

As part of a study on the exposure of African great ape sites to climate change impacts, Kiribou et al. subm. extracted climate data and data on projected extreme climate impact events for the site. Climatological characteristics were derived from observation-based climate data provided by the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISIMIP, www.isimip.org). Parameters were calculated as the average across each 30-year period. For 1981-2010, the EWEMBI dataset from ISIMIP2a was used. For the two future periods (2021-2050 and 2071-2099) ISIMIP2b climate data based on four CMIP5 global climate models were used. For future projections, two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) were used. RCP 2.6 is a scenario with strong mitigation measures in which global temperatures would likely rise below 2C. RCP 6.0 is a scenario with medium emissions in which global temperatures would likely rise up to 3C by 2100. For the number of days with heavy precipitation events, the 98th percentile of all precipitation days (>1mm/d) was calculated for the 1979-2013 reference period as a threshold for a heavy precipitation event. Then, for each year, the number of days above that threshold was derived. The figures on temperature and precipitation anomaly show the deviation from the mean temperature and mean precipitation for the 1979-2013 reference period.

The estimated exposure to future extreme climate impact events (crop failure, drought, river flood, wildfire, tropical cyclone, and heatwave) is based on a published dataset by Lange et al. 2020 derived from ISIMIP2b data. The same global climate models and RCPs as described above were used. Within each 30-year period, the number of years with an extreme event and the average proportion of the site affected were calculated (see Kiribou et al. subm. for details).

Table 8. Estimated past and projected climatological characteristics in Okomu National Park

Value 1981-2010 2021-2050, RCP 2.6 2021-2050, RCP 6.0 2071-2099, RCP 2.6 2071-2099, RCP 6.0
Mean temperature [C] 27.2 28.3 28.1 28.5 29.5
Annual precipitation [mm] 2338 2398 2415 2382 2440
Max no. consecutive dry days (per year) 31.2 34.9 34.8 34.9 38.1
No. days with heavy precipitation (per year) 6 9.8 9.4 9.9 11.7


Table 9. Projected exposure of apes to extreme climate impact events in Okomu National Park

Type No. of years with event (2021-2050, RCP 2.6) % of site exposed (2021-2050, RCP 2.6) No. of years with event (2021-2050, RCP 6.0) % of site exposed (2021-2050, RCP 6.0) No. of years with event (2070-2099, RCP 2.6) % of site exposed (2070-2099, RCP 2.6) No. of years with event (2070-2099, RCP 6.0) % of site exposed (2070-2099, RCP 6.0)
Crop failure 4 2.07 1.5 1.57 2 2.07 7.5 2.07
Drought 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.25 25
Heatwave 10 100 10.5 100 10.5 100 12.5 100
River flood 2 2.92 2.25 1.43 2.25 3.06 4 6.32
Tropical cyclone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.5 1.21
Wildfire 30 0.44 30 0.44 29 0.44 29 0.47


  • Precipitation anomaly in Okomu National Park
  • Temperature anomaly in Okomu National Park

External links

References

Nwankwo, E. A. (2016). Sustainable Wildlife Conservation at Okomu National Park. Ottoman Journal of Tourism and Management Research, 1(1), 101-118. https://doi.org/10.26465/ojtmr.2016132258


Page created by: APES Atlas Team Date: 2020-12-02

Page updated by: Tunde Morakinyo Date: 2026-04-06