World Pangolin Day: Experts call for sustainable conservation

Conservationists have said that pangolin conservation in Nigeria has improved over the years due to awareness creation. However, such conservation efforts must be sustained if the pangolin, known as the most trafficked mammal, will not go into extinction.

Olajumoke Morenikeji, a professor in the Department of Zoology, University of Ibadan and the chair, Pangolin Conservation Guild Nigeria (PCGN), on the occasion of the 2024 World Pangolin Day, said “This programme is important because it is bringing to fore the conservation of pangolins. Pangolins are the most illegally traded mammals in the world. They are going extinct if care is not taken.”

Pangolins can only be found in two continents: Africa and Asia.

“The pangolins in Asia are critically endangered, so we have a lot of trafficking of pangolins in Nigeria,” Professor Morenikeji said.

There are four species of pangolins in Nigeria. However, only three of them can still be found in the country.

According to the PCGN chair, “Every time, we hear in the news that a lot of pangolin scales are being taken out of the country. These scales totalling thousands of pangolins that have been killed cannot come from Nigeria alone; they come from neighbouring countries also.

“We want the world to know that these animals must be protected from going into extinction.

“Pangolins are very important and crucial to the environment. It is estimated that one pangolin can consume almost 70 million insects in a year. These insects include pests and those that bring down buildings like termites.

“They also aerate soils that helps plants grow better. They dig burrows and leave spaces for other animals to inhabit. So, we see that pangolins are so essential to the ecosystem.

“Our business is to ensure that this animal does not go extinct.”

Professor Morenikeji noted that her group’s intervention efforts in the popular bush meat market in Epe, Lagos State all through 2022 brought a stop to the sale of pangolin meat in the market.

She also commended the efforts of the Nigerian Customs Service for stepping up its surveillance of pangolin scale trafficking which has led to several seizures of such consignments in recent years.

Speaking on the significance of conservation efforts, Christina Connelly- Kanmaz, vice consul, US Consulate General, Lagos, said: “Our collaboration with Nigerian authorities, conservation groups and educational institutions such as the University of Ibadan is pivotal in this endeavour.

“The plight of pangolins which are among the most trafficked mammals is a stark reminder of the challenges we face.”

She added that the “unsustainable” and “illicit exploitation” of pangolins “not only threatens their survival but also endangers the health of our global community as the illegal wildlife trade can be a conduit of zoonotic diseases.”

Festus Iyorah, Nigeria Representative for WildAid Africa, in an interview with Nigerian Tribune, said that: “In the last 10 years, pangolin conservation in Nigeria has improved greatly.”

He mentioned two factors as being responsible. First was “the amazing work that Customs are doing to seize pangolin scales from traffickers.”

He noted that “In the last decade, Nigeria was earmarked as being the transit hub for pangolin scales and ivory. This meant that people from neighbouring countries especially Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, Benin Republic and down to Botswana made Nigeria the assembly point for illegal wildlife trafficking.

“This has been made possible by Nigeria’s porous borders, and weak laws to protect wildlife in Nigeria.

“One of the items brought in to the country for export to countries like Vietnam and China are pangolin scales.

“However, in the last five years, the Customs have made many seizures of pangolin scales from illegal wildlife traffickers.”

The second factor according to him is the increased awareness through the activities of groups like the PCGN and Wild Aid Africa.

“We have raised awareness about the dangers of killing pangolins for bush meat and exporting their scales to Asian countries for local medicine.”

Iyorah noted that Asia had its own species of pangolins, “but they have decimated the population of pangolins. Now, they have turned their attention to Africa where we have more pangolins.”

Pangolin scales are of special interest to Asian because they are believed to possess special medicinal value. However, pangolin scales are made of keratin, the same kind of material found in human nails.

PHOTO: Pangolins

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