Written by Carmen McCain
This week I have been teaching Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali re-told by D.T. Niane from the recitation by Guinean griot Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate. The epic is tied to the landscape and environment of the old Mali empire, stretching from current day Senegal to Niger Republic. “Listen to the story of the son of the Buffalo, the son of the Lion,” the griot recounts. The great emperor Sundiata’s mother is spiritually linked to the buffalo, and Sundiata inherits his father Nare Maghan’s name Djata: “Lion.” As he grows up, he learns from the griot “why the lion was the protector of his father’s family.” Sundiata, himself, is described as having “the stateliness of the lion.”
It was in the midst of my immersion in this myth that I read with dismay a Wildlife Conservation Society press release sent to me by Andrew Dunn, Director of WCS in Nigeria. It claims that there are fewer than 250 lions left in West Africa. This “king of the beasts” that has been so important to the history, literature and art of the region is in danger of extinction within the next decade.
Andrew Dunn, who is based in Calabar, agreed to grant me an email interview about the issue. He has been working in Africa since 1989, initially on large mammal surveys of the rainforests of West Africa. The current focus of his work is providing support to improve protected area management and planning. He is also the Regional Coordinator for West and Central Africa for the IUCN Transboundary Conservation Specialist Group and has written a number of park management plans, species action plans and guidebooks. In recognition of his conservation work in West Africa a butterfly was named after him in 2003:Lepidochrysops dunni.
Tell me about the work your organization does.
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), a private US nonprofit organization established in 1895, has been supporting conservation and applied research in Nigeria since 2001, working closely with the Ministry of Environment, the National Parks Service, Cross River State Forestry Commission, Bauchi State Government, universities, local NGOs and local communities. Based in Calabar, WCS currently has three long-term projects focused on saving the critically endangered Cross River gorilla in Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary, the Mbe Mountains and Cross River National Park. In addition to these long-standing projects we have managed a conservation project in Yankari Game Reserve in Bauchi State since 2009, providing support for the management and protection of Yankari and its key populations of lions and elephants. WCS completed the first nationwide lion survey of Nigeria in 2009. WCS strengthened and integrated its projects throughout Nigeria by establishing a WCS Nigeria Country program in 2010.A key feature of our work in recent years has been the promotion of trans-boundary conservation between Nigeria and Cameroon.
What has caused the decline of lions in West Africa?
Lions have gradually disappeared across West Africa as human populations and their livestock herds have grown, competing for land with lions and other wildlife. As wild savannas are converted for agriculture and cattle, the lion’s natural prey is hunted out, and lions are killed by pastoralists fearing the loss of their herds. The problem has been made even worse by the loss of grazing reserves in the country. In the absence of available grazing areas, pastoralists often have little choice but to graze their livestock inside national parks and game reserves. This soon brings them into conflict with rangers and lions. At the same time, as hunters have decimated their natural prey, lions often have little choice but to prey on livestock. Over the years many rangers have been killed attempting to uphold the law, and lions, easily poisoned, are on the verge of extinction in the country. Therefore state governments across northern Nigeria must strengthen existing grazing reserves and/or establish new grazing reserves where possible.
With all the other crises facing the region, why is the lion population a priority?
Lion populations in Africa are unique. They are genetically distinct from the better-known lions of famous game parks in East and southern Africa. Recent molecular research shows they are closely related to the extinct “Barbary Lions,” which once roamed North Africa, as well as to the last Asiatic lions surviving in India. The West African lion once ranged continuously from Senegal to Nigeria. However a recent survey found that lions have suffered a massive population decline across West Africa. They are now extinct at many sites. It is estimated that only 250 adult lions remain in West Africa today, and that only four isolated and severely imperiled populations survive. Two of these four populations are found in Nigeria: Kainji Lake National Park in Niger and Kwara States and Yankari Game Reserve in Bauchi State. But the size of these populations is very small and the combined lion population left at these two sites is probably fewer than 30.
Lions are important for Nigeria’s fledgling tourism industry. The key attraction for many of the visitors to Yankari in Bauchi State is the resident population of lions. Many times I have been thrilled to hear lions roaring at night outside my chalet at Yankari, a sound I never tire of hearing.
What needs to be done to reverse this decline?
Conservation requires funds, and current budgets for many of our national parks and game reserves are wholly inadequate to ensure their protection. We need more focus on the key sites remaining in Nigeria such as Yankari Game Reserve and Kainji Lake National Park. To save our remaining species, we need to provide more resources for our national parks and game reserves to ensure that they are well managed and protected effectively. This means more rangers to combat poaching. It also means providing the equipment, resources and training so that these staff can do their job. A long-term action plan to save lions in Nigeria is required, together with long-term funding.
If we don’t act now, lions will be totally extinct within the next 10 years. Drastic measures may be needed to save Yankari. Fencing the entire reserve may be needed to prevent inevitable encroachment by people and livestock, reduce human-lion conflicts and reduce access by poachers. If lions are allowed to go extinct in Nigeria, the impact on our tourism industry would be massive, the loss of our national pride immeasurable.
What other animals are at risk in Nigeria?
Nigeria has already lost forever many species such as the giraffe, rhino and cheetah. Other animals at risk include the elephant, wild dog, leopard, hippopotamus, manatee, gorilla, chimpanzee and a number of rare primates such as the drill and red colobus monkey.
How are Nigerian universities contributing to conservation efforts?
Universities across the country are involved in the fight to save our species, collecting vital scientific information needed to develop more effective conservation strategies. For example, staff and students of the AP Leventis Ornithological Research Institute of the University of Jos are spearheading efforts to save rare bird species in the country such as the Ibadan malimbe. In Cross River State, staff and students from the University of Calabar are engaged in efforts to save Cross River gorillas, whilst staff from the University of Jalingo are doing similar work to save Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees in Gashaka-Gumti National Park.
What can ordinary people do to help?
Don’t buy ivory or ivory products. Don’t frequent traditional healers, some of whom use body parts from endangered species such as the lion and gorilla for their traditional remedies. We all know that bushmeat tastes good–but always insist that the bushmeat you buy from the market or order in a restaurant is not derived from endangered species and does not come from protected areas.
We need to save these species for the future. They are part of our natural heritage and a source of pride for all Nigerians. They should not be squandered. However the people living around some of our key national parks and game reserves are among the poorest in the whole country. They are also expected to bear the costs when elephants damage their crops or lions prey on their livestock. More needs to be done to involve local communities in the conservation and management of our protected areas so that they also derive some benefits and understand what government is trying to do.
Saving the lion and other critically endangered mammals, such as elephants, will require a massive commitment of resources from government with assistance from the international community. It is not too late if we act now.
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