Government Neglect, Forest Destruction Push Nigeria’s Elephants To Brink Of Extinction — Conservation Experts | Sahara Reporters

Ofua noted that the herds were once so large that travellers had to wait for elephants to cross roads before continuing their journeys.

Some conservation experts have decried Nigeria’s elephant population decline, saying the elephant population in Africa’s most populous country has been pushed to the brink of extinction by government neglect, poaching, habitat destruction, and growing human-wildlife conflicts.

The warning was issued during a World Elephant Day media chat organised by Wild Africa and the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) as Nigeria joined other countries of the world to mark this year’s World Elephant Day, observed annually on August 12.

Speaking during the media chat participated in by SaharaReporters, wildlife veterinarian and conservationist Dr. Mark Ofua, Wild Africa’s West African representative, recalled that there were large herds of elephants in what is now Delta State and other parts of the country.

Ofua noted that the herds were once so large that travellers had to wait for elephants to cross roads before continuing their journeys.

He lamented that within one generation, the elephants disappeared from the area, saying, “I grew up not seeing any elephants in Delta State. All gone.”

Ofua said Nigeria currently has about 400 elephants remaining in the wild, comprising approximately 300 forest elephants and 100 savannah elephants.

He described the population as being at a critical point, warning that continued habitat fragmentation, hunting, and human-elephant conflicts could push the species beyond recovery.

“This is already at a critical position or a critical mass because that is already too small a family. So there is going to be inbreeding and genetic crossing because it’s too small,” he said.

“But still, it is still a good number. If we leave these animals to thrive, then there’s a chance that they can recover.

“But if we continue in the current trajectory of habitat fragmentation and hunting and clash and all that, and the number drops beyond the critical, that means we’re on the verge of losing our elephants forever.”

Also, Dr. Stella Egbe, who leads biodiversity pillar programmes at NCF, said Nigeria’s remaining elephants are spread across different forest and savannah landscapes.

She listed Omo Forest Reserve and Okumu Forest Reserve, Cross River National Park and Andoni in Rivers State among areas where forest elephants can be found, adding that the largest concentration of savannah elephants is in Yankari Game Reserve in Bauchi State.

Egbe said some elephant populations also move across Nigeria’s borders into Benin Republic and Cameroon, making the protection of connected habitats particularly important.

“Many of these movements used to be vital to preserving our healthy elephant population and preventing breeding and facing the challenge of fragmentation,” she said.

“That is, the habitats where they are found have now been broken into smaller bits.”

Egbe noted that pressure on forests forces some elephant families to move into surrounding areas, adding that two elephant populations are now found in Ogun State, with one remaining in Omo Forest Reserve and another occupying a smaller natural forest area around Itasin in Ogun East.

The conservationists warned that increasing human encroachment into forests is bringing elephants and communities into closer and more dangerous contact.

Egbe said habitat destruction and fragmentation deprive elephants of the space they require for feeding, movement and reproduction.

“As wildlife comes more in contact with people, there is a lot of conflict,” she said.

“And this can lead to destruction of human resources, farms and food. And then you have retaliatory killings.”

She said human-elephant conflict has been reported around Itasin, while rising water levels during the rainy season can push elephants in Andoni out of their core forest habitats and into human settlements.

Measures such as noise deterrents, beehives and chilli fences can help protect farms, she said, but the fundamental solution is to prevent further destruction and fragmentation of elephant habitats.

Egbe also noted that Nigeria lacks an effective emergency compensation system for farmers whose crops are destroyed by elephants, unlike some other countries.

She said NCF engages communities on ways to manage encounters with elephants, while the National Elephant Action Plan contains strategies aimed at reducing human-elephant conflict and preventing retaliatory killings.

Ofua identified public ignorance as another major threat to wildlife conservation in Nigeria.

“The greatest challenge conservation is facing in Nigeria is education,” he said.

“It would shock you to know that a whole lot of Nigerians, I would easily say about 80 percent of Nigerians, do not know we have elephants in Nigeria. It’s that serious.”

He cited a video showing a mature bull elephant sighted by a resident of Andoni, saying the reaction demonstrated how disconnected many Nigerians have become from the country’s wildlife.

“If somebody who stays in that area was just seeing an elephant for the first time, you can imagine somebody who is in Lagos,” Ofua said.

He called for more aggressive media coverage and conservation education, particularly in schools.

Ofua said protecting elephants is ultimately about protecting people and the ecosystems on which human beings depend.

“A lot of people see the work that we conservationists do, and they say, oh, you do this work because you like animals. Yes, I love animals. But the truth is I love humanity more,” he said.

“And we have come to realize that for humanity to thrive, for humanity to survive, the forest and its resources must thrive.”

He described elephants as “the tenders of the forest”, explaining that their movement, feeding, and dung contribute to the survival of plants, insects, microbes, and other wildlife.

“So you see that from losing elephants, we’re losing all the biodiversity,” he said. “There are some animals that depend on the dung from the elephants.

“There are some microbes that depend on the dung. Now, without the elephants, those animals will go extinct.”

Ofua warned that Nigeria would not simply lose one animal species if elephants disappeared.

“We’re not just losing the elephants, we’re losing a whole niche,” he said. “The more we lose these things, we are the ones that get affected.”

Participants at the media chat also raised concerns over inadequate government and private-sector funding for conservation.

Egbe said limited resources make it difficult to properly manage Nigeria’s protected green spaces, while insecurity in some areas prevents researchers and conservationists from accessing habitats where poaching and other threats may be occurring.

She said the National Elephant Action Plan was developed by conservation stakeholders, with the process led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), but implementation requires substantial funding.

Egbe linked the funding problem partly to declining international conservation financing, noting that many conservation organisations have historically depended heavily on foreign donors.

The conservation experts also expressed frustration over inadequate government commitment to protecting Nigeria’s remaining elephants, arguing that the existence of conservation policies means little without the funding, enforcement and political will required to implement them.

They said government agencies responsible for protected areas continue to face serious resource constraints, leaving vast forests vulnerable to encroachment, poaching and other illegal activities.

Ofua urged Nigerian companies to treat conservation as an environmental and economic responsibility rather than charity.

“The government cannot do it alone. The few private institutions doing it cannot do it alone,” Ofua said, stressing that government must take the lead in creating an effective conservation system rather than leaving the responsibility largely to NGOs and international partners.

He, however, argued that companies involved in construction, land clearing, infrastructure development and other activities have an environmental responsibility.

Ofua noted that corporations could sponsor conservation projects, adopt individual rescued animals and support public education campaigns.

Egbe said NCF already has partnerships with companies including Chevron and MTN, while banks and other organisations have supported tree planting and natural-resource conservation.

She, however, called for stronger policies requiring companies to mitigate the environmental consequences of their operations.

“We are getting to the point of Nigeria also making a huge break into the global climate market, climate financing and all that. But we are hoping to see that that is going back into nature for real,” she said.

The conservationists also argued that Nigeria could generate significant economic benefits from wildlife and ecotourism if its natural resources were properly developed.

They cited countries such as Tanzania and Rwanda, where wildlife has become an important part of tourism and the broader economy.

According to the speakers, Nigeria has forests, waterfalls, lakes and wildlife attractions capable of generating jobs, supporting local communities and attracting international visitors.

Ofua said conservation could create “tens, hundreds of jobs” if protected areas were properly developed.

“But by the time you lose all these resources, you lose these likely jobs, you lose this likelihood,” he said. “We lose so much, and society bears the brunt of it.”

The conservationists also called for stronger enforcement against the illegal trade in elephant tusks and other wildlife products.

They noted that cultural practices involving elephant tusks persist in some parts of Nigeria despite restrictions, making public education and enforcement necessary to reduce demand.

The conservationists stressed that the survival of elephants is closely linked to the health of entire ecosystems.

They described elephants as an “umbrella species” because their large habitat requirements mean that protecting them also protects numerous other species sharing the same ecosystem.

“The elephant is an umbrella species,” Ofua said. “So if the elephants are thriving, that means the forest is thriving.

“It automatically means that all the animals in nature, they are thriving because all these are like under the umbrella of the elephants.”

Conversely, declining elephant numbers could indicate that an entire ecosystem is deteriorating.

“If the elephants are disappearing, if the elephants are doing poorly, it means our forest is doing poorly. It means all the animals under the umbrella, they are doing poorly too,” he added.

Elephants can consume between 50kg and 100kg of vegetation daily, while their dung returns nutrients to the soil and supports smaller organisms.

Their movement through forests also creates pathways, opens spaces for vegetation and assists in the dispersal and germination of certain plant species.

“So when these iconic species disappear, they are not going alone. Several other animal species and several plant species will disappear too because they depend on the elephant,” Ofua said.

Ofua said the disappearance of elephants should therefore be treated as a warning about Nigeria’s broader environmental decline.

“If the species around you are disappearing, you should be concerned because it means you are en route as well,” he said. “Now a giant is on the edge of disappearing.”

The conservationists said preventing that outcome would require urgent protection of elephant habitats, stronger enforcement against poaching and illegal wildlife trade, sustained government funding, private-sector investment, community participation, and aggressive conservation education.