Nigeria Launches First National Plan to Save Endangered Elephants from Extinction
Elephants in Botswana celebrating their natural habitat, symbolizing wildlife conservation and African heritage.
Nigeria has launched its first National Elephant Action Plan, aimed at protecting the country’s rapidly declining elephant population. The plan focuses on reducing illegal killings and trade, preserving elephant habitats, raising public awareness, and promoting community-led vigilance. Nigeria’s elephant population has dwindled to just 300-400, a quarter of what it was three decades ago, due to poaching, habitat destruction, and human-elephant conflicts. Nigeria’s Minister of State for Environment Iziaq Adekunle Salako, who revealed the plan, emphasized the importance of involving local communities in conservation efforts, offering alternative livelihoods to those living near elephant habitats. The plan, authored by Andrew Dunn of the Wildlife Conservation Society, includes eight key objectives, ranging from law enforcement to conservation education. Nigeria’s efforts are part of a broader commitment by African nations to secure the future of elephants, with recent cross-border wildlife protection partnerships established between Nigeria and Cameroon.
SOURCE: VOA NEWS