Wildlife Experts Warn Against Increasing Disappearance Of Endangered Species.

Wildlife experts in Cameroon have called on the population to be conservators and protectors of endangered species, which are considered vital to supporting healthy ecosystem services.

As more and more wildlife species continue to extinct, experts have seen its disadvantages to the ecosystem if the situation is not addressed early enough.

The experts say, there is a drastic reduction in some key stone species of fauna and floral in Cameroon caused by a series of factors that include but not limited to; poaching, traffic in young animals, deforestation, logging, mining, fragmentation of habitats, bush fires, inadequate enforcement of the forestry and environmental laws as well as poverty and suppressed economy.

Louis Nkembi, a wildlife expert and the CEO of The Environment and Rural Development Foundation (A nonprofit conservation organization), has revealed that some endangered species in the South West Region like the Cross River gorilla that is located in the border region between Nigeria and Cameroon are just roughly about 300 of them left in the whole world.

So, if they all disappear, not only the human race is going to suffer from a patrimony problem but also the ecosystem services will greatly be hampered.

The other species that are also globally threatened and may face extinction if urgent action is not taken include: the African forest elephant, the savannah elephants, the Nigerian Cameroon chimpanzees, the central chimpanzees, the lions and the pangolin (catarrh beef). It should be noted that the African forest elephant is already extinct in the Sancho wildlife reserve in the West Region, furthermore the giraffe was declared extinct in 2011 in Northern Cameroon.

The increasing decline of these endangered species remains alarming due to the fact that many of these species remain outside of the protected areas where there is no proper wildlife management as well as knowledge about their present condition and status remains insufficient says Mr Nkembi. “There are other species that seems to be declining both in population number and habitat but we do not have enough data. This situation is termed “data deficient”Mr. Nkembi added.

These latter categories called the least concern suggest that the actors involved should start putting attention on them.
Mr. Nkembi further talked on strides made by international and national organizations in the conservation and protection of wildlife. He said “globally threatened species are classified by the international union for the conservation of Nature (IUC), by classifying all species of living things into a book called “The Red List Book”.

The red list specifies into five distinct categories namely: critical endangered (CR) to endangered (EN), vulnerable (VU), near threatened (NT), data deficient (DD) and least concerned (LC).

Meantime, in order to minimize the consequences of derogatory factors and ensure a better protection of these endangered species, the creation and proper management of protected and community conserve areas in all the regions is of utmost importance, and associated with the holistic and integrated inclusion of all stakeholders.

By Frida Leyina Voma