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  • Updated: March 03, 2022

World Wildlife Day: Five Animals In Danger Of Extinction In Nigeria

World Wildlife Day: Five Animals In Danger Of Extinction In

March 3 of every year has been set aside to celebrate the several forms of wild fauna and flora and to enhance the awareness of the value and benefits of conserving them.

The plants and animals that live wild contribute to the ecological, social, scientific, economic, and educational aspects of human existence among others.

The reduction of these species by human actions affects the benefits mentioned above, hence the need to intensify the fight against wildlife crime. This makes for the essence of celebrating the day.

The 2022 World Wildlife Day theme, ‘Recovering Key Species for Ecosystem Restoration’ seeks to promote the conservation of the most critically endangered species of wild plants and animals and how to do so.

The theme is also in line with UN Sustainable Development Goals 1,2,12,13,14, and 15 and their solution to several human problems.

Nigeria has always been a fan of biodiversity. However, the country is gradually losing its biodiverse natural resources for reasons ranging from pollution, climate change, crude oil, economic development, and human-induced problems among others.

Below are five animals In danger of extinction in Nigeria:

Lion

Lions were mostly seen in the northern part of Nigeria but not anymore. They are now at risk of extinction as a result of habitat loss and degradation, retaliatory and illegal killing of lions among other reasons.

As reported by Vanguard in 2021, there are less than 50 lions left in Nigeria.

The Nigeria-Cameroon Chimpanzee (Pan Troglodytes Ellioti)

This is a subspecies of the chimpanzee that live in rainforests along the Nigeria-Cameroon border.

The Nigeria-Cameroon Chimpanzee is evaluated as the most threatened and least distributed subspecies of chimpanzees as a result of hunting, destruction, farming, and research purposes.

These threats put the chimpanzees' subspecies at risk of extinction as noted by the South-West/Niger Delta Forest Project.

The Niger-Delta Red Colobus (Piliocolobus Epieni)

Just like the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees, the Niger-Delta red colobus is also a critically endangered species threatened mainly by agricultural processes including hunting and logging. 

The Old World monkeys of the genus Piliocolobus are as few as 500 as of 2020 and are confined to a small part of the marshy forest in Bayelsa State. 

The African Wild Dog (Lycaon Pictus)

The African painted dog, which is the largest wild canine in Africa, is a wild Canine native to sub-Saharan Africa.

The endangered animal, mostly threatened by habitat fragmentation which increases mortality rates and the transmission of infectious diseases, reduced from 160 to 26 individuals within 2012 and 2017.

Cross River Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli)

The Cross River gorilla is a subspecies of the western gorilla. The decline in the number of the subspecies is a result of Ebola and hunting.

As of 2010, the population of the Cross River has declined by 59%.

In 2020, several adults and babies were captured on video, giving the animal chances of survival in years to come.

 

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