736 J. O. Afriyie et al.


TABLE 1 Mean ± SE catch per unit effort and kilometric index of abundance of illegal activities encountered in the Kogyae Strict Nature Reserve (Fig. 1) during 2006–2017.


Illegal activity


Poachers arrested Poachers observed


Poachers’ camps found Gunshots heard


Firearms confiscated Snares found


Animals found killed Cartridges found


during 2006–2017. 2Number of observations per 100 km.


Mean ± SE catch per unit effort1 0.0011a ± 0.0002


0.0037b ± 0.0005 0.0017ab ± 0.0002 0.0080c ± 0.0007 0.0011a ± 0.0002 0.0113d ± 0.0013 0.0015ab ± 0.0002 0.0025ab ± 0.0008


Mean ± SE kilometric index of abundance × 1002


0.063 ± 0.011 0.226 ± 0.033 0.113 ± 0.012 0.454 ± 0.049 0.057 ± 0.013 0.698 ± 0.088 0.092 ± 0.014 0.171 ± 0.071


1Using Tukey HSD post hoc tests, mean values with different letters indicate significant difference (at P = 0.05) among the encounters of illegal activities


FIG. 4 Inter-annual trend trends of encounter rates (± SE) with illegal activities per monthly effective patrol man-days in the Kogyae Strict Nature Reserve during 2006–2017. Different letters indicate significant differences at P = 0.05, detected by Tukey HSD post hoc tests.


the vehicle was stolen in 2012 and thereafter patrol staff re- sorted to long patrols on foot, which is time- and energy- consuming, especially when moving between the base and the locations where patrols started and finished. Thirdly, the tents required for long patrols were damaged, and repla- cements were not provided. All these factors caused patrol staff to resort to day or night patrols only. Provision of equipment is particularly crucial given the dangerous na- ture of the work, with poachers sometimes resisting arrest violently, and in some cases injuring or even killing patrol staff (in Kyabobo National Park: Frimpong, 2013; in Mole National Park: DailyGraphic, 2018). Poachers have killed or assaulted patrol staff in Lobéké National Park, Cameroon (Mathiesen, 2016), Maswa Game Reserve, Tanzania (BBC News, 2016) and Savé Valley Conservancy, Zimbabwe (Lindsey et al., 2011). Unofficial reports suggest patrol staff performance


FIG. 5 Mean encounter rates (± SE) of illegal activities from January to December in the Kogyae Strict Nature Reserve across all years (2006–2017).


The reasons for the decline in staff performance after


2011 were threefold. Firstly, in 2011 and 2012 a number of the patrol staff retired, and there was a delay in the recruit- ment of new staff. Secondly, long patrols mostly accounted for the high performance of patrol staff, and for each such patrol, the Reserve vehicle transported patrol staff and equipment to the locations where patrols began. However,


Changes in the encounters of illegal activities


In 2008 and 2009 patrol staff performance slightly de- creased, though not significantly, in comparison with that of 2007 (Fig. 2), but an increase was observed in encounter rates with illegal activities (Fig. 4). This could have been the


Oryx, 2021, 55(5), 732–738 © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605320000228


decreases during the wet season in Ghana because the pa- trol staff tend their own farms during this season, to sup- plement their income (Wiafe & Amoah, 2012). However, we did not record any significant difference in the per- formance of staff between the dry and wet seasons, similar to the report by Wiafe & Amoah (2012)for theKakum Conservation Area in Ghana. However, during themonths of the peak wet season, patrol staff performance was slight- ly but not significantly lower compared to the dry season (Fig. 3). This was probably because of intensive rainfall, which makes movement and sightings difficult, and be- cause there was no logistical support specific for rainy weather.


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