Pangolin Day: Wild Africa Fund partners Nigerian celebrities in campaign to reduce demand for illegal bushmeat

…. Campaign reaches 88% of Nigeria’s urban population

The campaign to save Pangolins against illegal trade and trafficking is gaining momentum in Nigeria as leading personalities in the country from the realms of music, comedy, sports, and business have come together to champion the course.

The celebrities are working hard to change the ugly narrative of using the country as an export hub for trafficking pangolin scales. Part of their strategies is to discourage the consumption of illegal bushmeat, especially those animals that are on the verge of going extinct.

This campaign is being spearheaded by Wild Africa Fund and supported by a wide array of Nigerian media organisations including the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria.

In release by the Wild Africa Fund on the 2024 World Pangolin Day, the organization said it has brought together a stellar lineup of renowned Nigerian personalities including 2Face, Davido, Ali Baba, Emanuella, Alex Iwobi, Josh2Funny and several other celebrities who have committed their voices and influence to amplify the escalating threats posed by the illegal wildlife trade, particularly on pangolins.

Spokesperson, Wild Africa Fund’s West Africa Dr. Mark Ofua, noted the organization is leveraging the power of public figures and the influence they wield, to succeed in this campaign which aims to turn the tide for pangolins and make Nigeria a regional leader in fighting wildlife crime.

He pointed out that Pangolins are the most trafficked mammals in the world, partly because their scales are in great demand for use in traditional medicine in Asia.

According to him, pangolin populations in Asia have declined, shipments from Africa have greatly increased to meet soaring demand.

Quoting the Wildlife Justice Commission, Ofua said 55 percent of pangolin scale seizures worldwide between 2016 and 2019 were linked to Nigeria.

He also stated that a recent survey of 1,000 Nigerians conducted by Lagos-based Market Surveys International found that 88 percent are aware of Wild Africa Fund’s campaign with 97 percent of people aged 10-17 years reporting that they remember the campaign.

Additionally, he said 86 percent said they would no longer kill or consume because of learnings from the campaign and 31 percent said they have stopped consuming bushmeat due to the campaign.

Furthermore, 91 percent signified their intention to substitute bushmeat with other sources of protein like chicken, fish, and meat from goat, cattle and turkey.

“The impact and reach of the campaign could be attributed to several factors, including increased coverage of wildlife issues by Nigerian news organisations, Wild Africa Fund’s widely-seen public service announcements featuring Nigerian celebrities as well as several other engaging content like Dr. Mark’s Animal Show which targets kids and teenagers and has been broadcast by several TV channels in Nigeria, including Silverbird TV, StarTimes, and Teen Africa TV”

On his part, founder and CEO of Wild Africa Fund Peter Knights OBE stated that leading Nigerians and media have been incredibly supportive of better wildlife protection and that the organization truly believes the country can lead the region in safeguarding pangolins and other endangered wildlife.

World Pangolins Day is celebrated on the 17th of February annually to raise public awareness of the need to check illegal trade and trafficking of the organism which is critically endangered.

Wild Africa Fund aims to be Africa’s most effective conservation communicator, inspiring the public support and political will to protect Africa’s wildlife and wild spaces forever. We believe people and wildlife can only survive and thrive together, so we are popularising conservation with a much broader audience than has previously been engaged. By amplifying the voices of African opinion leaders from every field through a powerful network of media partners and diverse programming, we seek to promote domestic wildlife tourism, local conservation projects and the passage and enforcement of effective conservation laws. Through our communications and direct support, we also aim to deliver permanent reductions in wildlife crime, the demand for illegal bushmeat, human/wildlife conflict and habitat loss.