Mirian Gom 
ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria has only about 400 elephants left in the wild, with habitat loss, illegal ivory trade and human-wildlife conflict threatening the survival of the species, conservationists have warned.
The warning was issued on Monday during a virtual media engagement organised by Wild Africa and the Nigerian Conservation Foundation ahead of World Elephant Day, marked annually on August 12.
Dr Mark Ofua, a wildlife veterinarian, conservationist and West African representative of Wild Africa, said Nigeria’s remaining elephant population comprised about 300 forest elephants and 100 savannah elephants.
He described the population as critically low, warning that continued habitat fragmentation and hunting could reduce genetic diversity and increase the risk of extinction.
“Elephants are tenders of the forest,” Ofua said, explaining that the animals play an important role in maintaining forest health, biodiversity and ecological balance.
He described elephants as an “umbrella species”, arguing that their disappearance would be a warning sign of wider damage to forest ecosystems.
According to him, losing elephants could affect biodiversity, carbon storage and other ecosystem services that support human communities.
Ofua identified illegal ivory trafficking, retaliatory killings following human-elephant conflicts and injuries caused by snares as some of the major threats facing elephants in Nigeria.
He also identified limited public awareness as a major challenge, estimating that about 80 per cent of Nigerians were unaware that elephants still exist in the country.
Ofua urged Nigerian companies to treat wildlife conservation as part of their environmental responsibilities rather than simply as charity.
He suggested that businesses could support conservation programmes and adopt individual rescued elephants as part of their environmental commitments.
He cited Rwanda’s gorilla trekking programme as an example of how wildlife tourism can support conservation and local communities.
Ofua said stronger laws and enforcement were also needed to address illegal wildlife trafficking.
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