As the globe celebrates the 2022 World Elephant Day on August 12, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Bayelsa State Governor on Tourism, Mr Piriye Kiyaramo has again appealed to community leaders across the Niger Delta region to step up actions towards protecting wildlife in their domains, particularly the African forest elephant and pygmy hippopotamus habitats in the region.
Mr. Kiyaramo hinted that several endangered species of animals are found in the Niger Delta which include, the West African Monatee, the White Throated Guenon, the Sclater’s Guenon, the Niger Delta Red Colobus, the Nile Crocodile, aquatic Antelope, Forest Hog, Python, leatherback, green olive ridley, loggerhead and the hawksbill sea turtles and water buck.
He made the appeal while speaking with travel journalists in Yenagoa in commemoration of this year’s World Elephant Day, explaining that the World Elephant Day commemoration, was a rallying call for people to support organizations working to stop the illegal poaching and trade in elephant ivory and other wildlife products, with a view to protecting wild elephant habitat, and provide sanctuaries and alternative habitats for domestic elephants to live freely.
Mr. Kiyaramo commented Senator Douye Diri for acting responsibly towards preserving the state’s rich wildlife, particularly the endangered species, which according him, remain natural resource that comes with great socio-economic benefits to the people in terms of eco-tourism.
The SSA on Tourism noted that Bayelsa state has become a home to rich biodiversity, having several species known to science, one of which is the Niger Delta red Colobus, found in Bayelsa and the Preuss’s red colobus found in Cross River.
He called on organizations interested in conservation to intensify their campaigns under the auspices of the World Elephant Day, which permits everyone to work together to support this critical global issue that calls for synergy and cooperation across borders, irrespective of political divide.
“This powerful and collective global voice provides citizens, policy-makers, politicians and governments to find ways to create and support conservation solutions that will make the world a safe place for elephants, wildlife, and habitats for future generations to cherish”, Mr. Kiyaramo said.
The loss of biodiversity that has accompanied the intensification of human use of the environment, is measured in the loss of key ecosystems, such as forests, wetlands or coral reefs, and in the growing number of species that are threatened with extinction or which have already become extinct.
Reports have it that the African forest elephants and pygmy hippopotamus among several wildlife live on an island in Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, believed to be Nigeria’s most endemic island due to the enormous biodiversity found there.
The Niger Delta red Colobus is found in Apoi Creek National Park, located in Southern Ijaw, while chimpanzees have reported to exist in Edumanom National Park, located in parts of Ogbia and Nembe local government areas. The African Buffalo among several wildlife have been reported to exist in Kolokuma/Opokuma and parts of Okordia-Zarama-Biseni axis in Yenagoa local government area.
It will be recalled that Bayelsa state has six forest reserves, namely: Taylor Creek, Edumanom, Apoi Creek, Nun River, Igbedi Creek and Ikebiri Creek.
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