SPECIAL REPORT: MANATEE ESCAPES DEATH TO DRAW GLOBAL ATTENTION TO NIGERIA

Lucy-Diagne-conducting-necropsy-the-animal-version-of-autopsy-on-AkwaCross

In October last year, an American researcher and biodiversity conservationist, Lucy Diagne, hurriedly flew from her base in Senegal into Akwa Ibom state, in South-South Nigeria.

Mrs. Diagne’s trip was part of an emergency global effort to save a baby manatee rescued from local fishermen who wanted to enrich their soup-pots with the poor little animal.

Edem Eniang, the man who led other Nigerian conservationists to buy it off their hands, understood how priceless it was to save the manatee calf.

The marine mammal is among the world’s endangered species.
 
Besides, “the African manatee is the one species that we know the least about,” says Manatee-world.com, a website devoted to the animal.

“In fact, even getting photos of them is hard. You won’t find too many of them compiled even from those researchers that are quite fascinated with the African Manatee.”

Mr. Eniang said the baby manatee “was standing in a little well, (and) couldn’t move its body, and was dehydrated” when he found it where it was kept in captivity.

Mr. Eniang, a senior lecturer at the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom state, who specialises in Wildlife Resources Management, wasn’t this lucky in 2013.


READ FULL REPORT HERE

Share this

Anonymous