{"id":64762,"date":"2019-02-13T05:38:25","date_gmt":"2019-02-13T04:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=64762"},"modified":"2019-02-13T05:38:25","modified_gmt":"2019-02-13T04:38:25","slug":"nigerias-wildlife-trade-and-threats-to-conservation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/nigerias-wildlife-trade-and-threats-to-conservation\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria’s Wildlife Trade and Threats to Conservation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\u201cI am a hunter, I supply fresh wild animals like Pangolins, big Snakes,
\nAntelopes, Wild Cats, etc.\u201d<\/p>\n

This tweet on January 15, 2019, by Onayemi Temitope (@trotsky27),
\ngenerated a massive online buzz, especially on Twitter where it had over
\n5, 000 engagements. Many called out this young man and labelled his
\naction, wicked and punishable, others praised him highly for his courage
\nand bravery.<\/p>\n

No doubt, Wildlife Trade remains a very controversial subject on the
\nAfrican continent, perhaps across the world. World Economic Forum asserts
\nthat with an annual upper income of 23 Billion USD, Wildlife Trade is the
\n4th most lucrative global crime after drugs, humans and arms. While the
\nConvention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild
\nFauna and Flora is clear about international trade, with emphasis on
\nsustainability, we must further accept that poaching of wildlife resources
\nin Nigeria is largely unchecked contributing to Nigeria\u2019s rapid
\nbiodiversity loss.<\/p>\n

While some very wealthy folks and greedy businessmen are keen on
\nexploiting these resources at the expense of sustainability; the hunters \u2013
\nmostly stack illiterate in local communities, are paid only 3% of the
\ntotal income, just enough to keep them poor and fuel their thirst to hunt
\nmore fauna.<\/p>\n

Having carried out numerous wildlife field studies, first-hand interviews
\nwith hunters and with a few publications about wildlife \u2013 education, trade
\nand conservation in Nigeria, I found Mr. Onayemi Temitope\u2019s case
\ncompletely different. Onayemi Temitope Timothy is a graduate of Sociology
\nand Anthropology from the University of Benin, with a second degree
\n(Masters) in Sociology (Major – Criminology) from the University of
\nIbadan. 4 years after his graduation, having remained unemployed, Temitope
\ntook to wildlife hunting and trading, first as a recreative activity, then
\nas a source of financial stability.<\/p>\n

I asked Temitope how often he hunts and what his average kill rate is,
\n\u201cPresently, I don\u2019t really live in Sagamu (the hunting location) but any
\ntime I am around, I\u2019ll go hunting with other people. I can\u2019t put a figure
\nto an average kill rate, especially because I don\u2019t hunt every day. The
\ntruth is that the recent kill rate has greatly declined and is now
\ntypically very low. Sometimes we are able to get just one snake,
\nsometimes, one Pangolin or just one grass cutter. There are times we don\u2019t
\neven come across any at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Education is the bedrock of human actions and it snowballs into our
\nactions and inactions. At Wildlife of Africa Conservation Initiative, my
\nteam and I have always laid emphasis on Wildlife Education and
\nConservation using various platforms, formal (schools and universities),
\ninformal (communities, social and religious groups) and online advocacy.<\/p>\n

My chat with Temitope was very insightful, I was least surprised when Mr.
\nTemitope truthfully confided that before now, it never felt awkward
\nhunting wild animals \u2013 endangered species inclusive. \u201cTill recently, I
\nnever knew most of those animals are endangered, threatened or vulnerable.
\nI used to believe that if humans don\u2019t kill them, higher mammals will or
\nthey will just die a natural death and since they procreate more than
\nhumans, we cannot exhaust them. It was the Twitter response after my tweet
\nthat made me know Pangolins are endangered species. I also got to know
\nsome wild animals were of concern to the Federal Ministry of Environment,
\nthe Nigerian National Park and State Governments.<\/p>\n

Mr. Felix Abayomi of Wildlife of Africa Conservation Initiative also
\nexplained the roles of CITES and IUCN list. Now, I see things in a
\ndifferent light. Ever since, I have tried to protect Pangolins, as well as
\nother wildlife species. Today, I can tell the difference between
\nconserving and hunting and I am able to create a balance and educate
\nothers too.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Nigeria, as with other developing countries, the present needs of the
\npeople come first and \u201cavailability is affordability\u201d; hence, prioritizing
\nthe conservation of Nigeria\u2019s wildlife resource would mean a series of
\ninputs. As a member state, Nigeria would have to revisit and adopt
\nConvention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)
\nguidelines; interest stakeholders, development partners and private
\nsectors will consistently have to lobby and influence the government\u2019s
\npolitical will at all levels; most importantly, there is a striking need
\nto provide lots of other environmental-friendly economic options\/job
\nopportunities that could convert poachers and hunters to conservationists
\nand researchers.<\/p>\n

‘Seyifunmi Adebote, writes from Abuja, Nigeria. You can reach him via
\nadeboteseyi@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI am a hunter, I supply fresh wild animals like Pangolins, big Snakes, Antelopes, Wild Cats, etc.\u201d This tweet on January 15, 2019, by Onayemi Temitope (@trotsky27), generated a massive…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":62745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\nNigeria's Wildlife Trade and Threats to Conservation - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/nigerias-wildlife-trade-and-threats-to-conservation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nigeria's Wildlife Trade and Threats to Conservation - 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