Criminal activities threatening survival of wild in Taraba – Official

Criminal activities are threatening the survival of wild animals at the Gashaka Gumpti National Park in Taraba, an official says.

Mr Joseph Ntui, Conservator of Parks (CP), who expressed great concern that some of the wild animals might go extinct, spoke with newsmen on Thursday in Jalingo.

Ntui listed animals such as lions, hippos, and cheetahs, as some that could already be extinct as they had not been sighted in the park for many years now, in spite of intensified surveillance.

The park official said that Gumpti Park remained the largest, most scenic park in the country with several species of birds, fishes, butterflies, mammals, and plants.

According to him, the park also boasts of other unique living species that make it a laboratory for research and experimentation.

He noted that the disappearance of the wildcats and hippos might not be unconnected to activities of poachers, hunters and farmers, as well as encroachment on the parks, which might have forced the animals to take refuge elsewhere.

“So far, we used to have cheetahs and lions here, but we have not sighted them for a long time now despite improved surveillance.

” Our last sighting of hippopotamus at the Hippo pool was about five years ago. And so we are tempted to believe that they are locally extinct.

“You know, conservation generally is a difficult job in Nigeria because of the attitude of the people.

“People are yet to come to terms with the overwhelming need for conservation. And so they feel their common heritage is taken over and handed to the control and benefits of a few people.

“We have the problem of people still going into the park to hunt these animals for meat.

” We have poachers at their game. We have farmers wanting to encroach at all cost and herders insisting on grazing on the park lands.

“In fact, the grazers will tell you that the grass in the park is more nutritious than the one outside.

“All these are factors that drive wildlife away when the idea of a park is for wild animals to be able to operate in their natural habitats without undue human interference,” he said.

He, however, disclosed that with the intervention of the Africans Nature’s Investors (ANI), an NGO, the rangers were now better trained and equipped to patrol the park and tackle threats to life of the wild.

“ANI is an NGO that partners with the park service to support conservation works within the park by providing financial and technical support.

” The partnership has brought funding for training and purchase of equipment. We have more patrol vehicles, canoes, and a helicopter.

“We had a situation where rangers walked for several days to get to certain locations. That has been taken care of.

” The helicopter is a game changer. It makes it easier to drop rangers at locations for patrols. The coming of ANI has improved our operational efficiency and effectiveness,” Ntui added.

The CP also said that the UNESCO Volunteer Team was currently conducting studies that would enable the park to be upgraded to a World Heritage Site.