Wildlife Disease Surveillance and Management in Yankari Game Reserve, Bauchi State

This study evaluates wildlife disease surveillance and management practices in Yankari Game Reserve in Bauchi State, located in Nigeria's North East geopolitical zone. Yankari is Nigeria's premier game reserve and harbours significant populations of elephants, hippopotami, and diverse ungulate species that interface with domestic livestock at reserve boundaries, creating risk pathways for bidirectional disease transmission. Using a professional assessment design, structured interviews were conducted with 25 wildlife managers, rangers, and veterinary officers stationed at Yankari. Field surveys documented wildlife-livestock interaction zones and collected 120 sera from wildlife opportunistically sampled through darting operations and from cattle at boundary farms for testing against brucellosis, rift valley fever, and foot-and-mouth disease. Disease surveillance records for 2020 to 2023 were reviewed. Findings revealed no formal wildlife disease surveillance programme at Yankari, with disease detection entirely dependent on observation of clinical signs by rangers without specific veterinary training. RVFV antibodies were detected in 15 percent of wildlife samples and 8 percent of boundary cattle, suggesting active circulation. Brucellosis seroprevalence of 9 percent in hippopotami was documented. The study recommends establishing a formal wildlife disease surveillance unit at Yankari, training rangers in basic disease recognition, equipping reserve veterinary staff with diagnostic field kits, and establishing buffer zone vaccination programmes for cattle at reserve boundaries. Keywords: wildlife disease, surveillance, Yankari, Bauchi State, One Health.