Wild Africa Fund launched a weeklong campaign to raise awareness about the threats facing Nigeria’s pangolins on Saturday and called on Nigerians to protect the endangered species while urging the federal government to pass the Endangered Species Conservation and Protection Bill as the world celebrates World Pangolin Day, an annual event dedicated to celebrating one of the world’s most loved and beautiful species.
Pangolins in Nigeria are on the brink of extinction. The illegal trade in pangolins and their scales is driven by the elitist taste for their meat and the demand by the Asian markets. Pangolins are the most trafficked mammals in the world and Nigeria happens to be the transit hub for the illegal trafficking of pangolins and their scales.
As keystone species, pangolins play a key role in the preservation of the ecosystem as they consume about 70 million insects in a year to regulate the insect population numbers so that crops can grow.
The continued poaching and trafficking of pangolins will negatively impact Nigeria’s biodiversity. Nigeria is blessed to be one of the few places in the world where pangolins thrive and it is indeed Nigeria’s cultural heritage.
Loss of habitat due to deforestation and farming activities reduce pangolin numbers while illegal hunting for their scales and meat is very damaging for an animal that breeds so slowly with only one pup over about eighteen months.
“Although pangolins have been on earth for over 80 million years, we may lose them in a single human lifetime,” says Wild Africa Founder Peter Knights.
“The keys to their survival lie in effective laws such as the Endangered Species Conservation and Protection Bill which has just passed the first reading in the Federal House of Representatives. Better enforcement, education of buyers and hunters, and development of alternatives to illegal bushmeat, such as fish and organic chicken like Noiler are required to address the threats facing pangolins. Pangolins don’t breed well in captivity so protecting them in the wild is our only option,” says Knights
“It is not too late to protect Nigeria’s endangered pangolins and increase their population but we need to act now to protect them,” said Wild Africa Fund Nigeria Representative Kelechukwu Iruoma. “We urge the Nigerian government to pass the Endangered Species Conservation and Protection bill to combat the illegal trafficking of pangolins and their scales.”
Wild Africa Fund is also calling on all Nigerians to “Say No to Illegal Bushmeat,” as a way to ease some of the pressures on pangolins in the country.
