ASSESSMENT OF OGBA ZOOLOGICAL GARDEN AND NATURE PARK UTILIZATION BY UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF UNIVERSITY OF BENIN, BENIN CITY, NIGERIA.

ABSTRACT

The study of assessment of Ogba zoological garden and nature park utilization by undergraduate students of University of Benin was carried out in University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria. 60% sampling intensity was used to select nine (9) faculties from a total of fifteen (15) faculties in the University. The respondents were randomly selected using 1% sampling intensity of the students’ population in each of the selected faculty. A total of two hundred and seventy nine (279) copies of questionnaires administered in all the faculties selected for the study. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency and percentage. The results of the study revealed that 70.61% of the respondents have visited Ogba Zoo while 29.39% have not visited. Majority of the respondents (51.97%) are aware of biodiversity and conservation, 28.67% are not aware while the least number (19.35%) are very aware. Majority of the respondents (45.88%) were motivated to visit the zoo while the least (6.09%) were seriously not motivated. The factors that contributed to Motivation to visit Ogba Zoo had recreation/leisure as the highest value of 41.89%, education/research 30.63%, while plant viewing had the value of 0.9%. 69.09% of the respondents reported that the price of the gate fee is fair while the least (1.82%) reported that it is high. 74.05% of the respondents are not familiar with the rules and guidelines of the zoo while 25.95% are familiar. A very high proportion of the respondents (96.74%) were satisfied with the rules and guidelines while 3.26% were not satisfied. 55.84% of the respondents would love to revisit the zoo and 85.66% would recommend other students to visit the Zoo. Few animals in the zoo (36.61%) was the major challenge faced by the zoo while poor access roads (0.89%) was the least challenges. It was recommended that the management of Ogba Zoological garden and other relevant stakeholders should make the tourists and the general public more familiar with the rules and guidelines of the Zoological garden.