Sightings of elephants in Epe boosts tourism potential in Lagos, Nigeria
A herd of elephants have been sighted in the last week of October around Epe Waterside in Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria, according to reports. Sources claim that the elephants have their original habitat at the Omo Reserve in neighbouring Ogun State.
Human activities and rising water level, we learnt, are responsible for the elephants’ straying into the Itasin-Epe water boundary, destroying cassava farms and disrupting fishing activities along their way. The hunter in charge of the area, Alhaji Adesada, who is also President of Nigerian Hunters, confirmed the sighting of the elephants, saying they are a family of about six or eight.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), reports on its website that the populations of forest elephants are in dire need of protection in the country, stating that only about 200 of them remain in the wild in five sites in southern Nigeria.
The NCF site corroborates the recent sighting in Lagos, when it listed Omo Reserve among the five sites where forest elephants are found in southern Nigeria. The other places are: Okomu National Park in Edo State, the Cross River National Park in Cross River State, the Idanre Forests and Osse River Park in Ondo State and the Andoni Island in Rivers State.
According to NCF, some of the problems facing the Nigerian Forest Elephants include: conversion of forest for other uses, loss of habitat and fragmentation, and poaching for their ivory, among others. To save the elephants from dwindling or going extinct in the country, in the medium term (10‐20 years), the NCF is calling for organised conservation work, public support and enlightenment, and good habitat management.
Already, the Lagos State government has already shown interest towards the conservation of the pachyderm family, as the Commissioner for Tourism has already made contact with the president of the hunters.
