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🇳🇬 Nigeria /Environment & Climate

Rescued orphaned elephant highlights Nigeria’s conservation fight

From The Punch · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Nigeria faces a critical fight to conserve its endangered forest elephants, with only an estimated 200 remaining in the country.
  • A month-old orphaned elephant calf, Agbaibor, is receiving intensive, costly around-the-clock care after being separated from its herd near a palm oil plantation.
  • Conservationists are working to rehabilitate Agbaibor over several years, aiming for eventual reintroduction into the wild, while battling increasing habitat loss and poaching pressures.

In the heart of Okomu National Park, Nigeria, a tiny forest elephant named Agbaibor represents a significant battleground in the nation's fight for conservation. The month-old calf, orphaned and found alone near a palm oil plantation, now requires round-the-clock care, including specialized milk formula and nutritional supplements.

The baby elephant has to take two litres of this per meal.

— Joshua AribasoyeA caretaker describes the intensive feeding regimen for the orphaned elephant calf.

Joshua Aribasoye, one of the dedicated caretakers, described the demanding routine: "The baby elephant has to take two litres of this per meal." This intensive care, costing between four and five million naira (about $3,600) monthly, is a stark illustration of the challenges in protecting Nigeria's critically endangered forest elephants. Conservationists estimate only about 200 remain in the country, with roughly 40 inhabiting the Okomu ecosystem.

The rescue and rehabilitation of Agbaibor, who was named after the ranger involved in his discovery, is a costly operation managed by African Nature Investors (ANI). Specialists were flown in from Zambia, and a new enclosure is being built deeper within the park. The goal is to gradually expose the calf to wild herds over the next three to five years before a potential reintroduction.

The calf will be cared for there… until it is integrated into a group.

— Peter AbanyamANI project manager explains the long-term rehabilitation plan for Agbaibor.

However, the park itself faces mounting pressure. Logging, poaching, farming, and expanding settlements are fragmenting the forest, shrinking vital elephant corridors and increasing human-wildlife conflict. Godstime Christopher, a former timber transporter now a ranger, exemplifies the shift in local engagement, working with ANI to protect the very forest he once exploited. Okomu National Park, one of Nigeria's last rainforests, is deemed critical, and its protection is a paramount concern for conservationists.

Okomu is critical for conservation in Nigeria. In a small ecosystem like this, housing 40 elephants is a huge number, and it needs to be protected at all costs.

— Peter AbanyamANI project manager emphasizes the importance of Okomu National Park for elephant conservation in Nigeria.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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