Nigeria’s Elephants: Conservationists Warn of Extinction as Habitat Loss, Human Conflict Threaten Remnant Population

Bennett Oghifo

For generations, elephants once moved freely through Nigeria’s forests and savannahs, forming huge herds that were an unmistakable part of the country’s natural landscape. But today, the sight of an elephant in the wild has become an increasingly rare experience, with conservationists estimating that only about 400 remain across the country.

The shrinking population, fragmented habitats, human-wildlife conflicts and continuing pressure on forests have raised fresh concerns over the survival of Nigeria’s elephants.

As the world prepares to mark World Elephant Day on August 12, conservationists have warned that the country’s remaining elephant population is at a critical point and requires urgent and sustained intervention to prevent its disappearance from Nigeria’s forests and savannahs.

The warning came during a World Elephant Day media chat organised in partnership between Wild Africa, a conservation communication organisation, and the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF), regarded by conservationists as one of Nigeria’s oldest and foremost conservation organisations.

The annual World Elephant Day provides an opportunity to draw attention to the plight of elephants globally, while advocating policies and practical measures to protect the species and its habitats.

Speaking during the media interaction, NCF’s lead for biodiversity pillar programmes, Dr. Stella Egbe, said the occasion offered conservationists an opportunity to take the elephant conservation message beyond the traditional conservation community and into the wider public space.

According to her, Nigeria still has remnant populations of elephants that could recover if adequately protected, but their survival depends largely on protecting their habitats and maintaining the ecological corridors through which they move.

“We want to have a conversation about their plight, about the need to protect them and about their importance,” she said.

Wildlife veterinarian and conservationist, Dr. Mark Ofua, who represents Wild Africa in West Africa, painted a picture of how dramatically Nigeria’s elephant population has declined within a generation.

He recalled stories told to him by his father about growing up in the Niger Delta, when large herds of elephants were so common that people travelling to school sometimes had to wait for the animals to cross the road.

“My father would tell me that growing up, there were times he would leave home and be going to school early, but get to school late because on his way they would come across large herds of elephants,” Ofua said.

“They would have to wait for the entire herd to cross before they could continue.”

But the situation has changed significantly.

Ofua said that although he grew up in Delta State, he never saw an elephant there because the population had disappeared.

Nigeria, according to current estimates cited during the discussion, has about 300 forest elephants and approximately 100 savannah elephants in the wild.

The forest elephants are mainly found in southern Nigeria, including Omo Forest Reserve in Ogun State, Okomu in Edo State, Cross River National Park and Andoni in Rivers State. Savannah elephants are found predominantly in northern Nigeria, with Yankari Game Reserve in Bauchi State hosting the major population.

There are also elephant movements across Nigeria’s international borders, particularly between Nigeria and Benin Republic and Nigeria and Cameroon.

Egbe explained that elephants do not recognise political boundaries and historically moved across extensive landscapes in search of food, water and suitable habitats.

However, the fragmentation of forests and other natural habitats has increasingly restricted these movements.

“Many of these movements that used to be vital to preserving our healthy elephant population and preventing inbreeding are facing the challenge of fragmentation,” she said.

Habitat fragmentation occurs when large, continuous natural habitats are divided into smaller, isolated areas by human activities such as agriculture, settlements, roads and other developments.

For elephants, the consequences can be particularly severe because of their enormous territorial and nutritional requirements.

Ofua warned that the estimated population of about 400 elephants was already small enough to raise concerns about genetic diversity and inbreeding.

“This is already at a critical position or a critical mass because that is already too small a family,” he said.

He, however, maintained that the situation was not beyond recovery if the remaining animals were protected and allowed to reproduce.

“If we leave these animals to thrive, then there is every chance that they can recover,” he said.

“But if we continue in the current trajectory of habitat fragmentation, hunting and human-wildlife conflict and the number drops beyond the critical point, that means we are on the verge of losing our elephants forever.”

The conservationists acknowledged that determining the exact number of elephants in Nigeria remains difficult because the animals are widely dispersed and move across large landscapes.

Egbe said conservation agencies rely on established scientific techniques, including line transects and camera traps, to estimate elephant populations.

Field surveys are conducted in locations where elephants are known to occur, while the results are combined with information on elephant movements, mortality, poaching incidents and other factors to develop population estimates.

She noted that an important period for understanding elephant movements in Ogun State occurred around 2018, when pressure on Omo Forest Reserve led to the movement of elephant families into adjoining areas.

The population subsequently became fragmented, with elephants now found in Omo Forest Reserve and another natural forest area around Itasin in Ogun East.

Egbe said regular monitoring and collaboration among conservation organisations remained critical.

Okomu National Park, for instance, involves the National Park Service and African Nature Investors, while conservation activities in Cross River National Park involve the National Park Service and the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Human encroachment, however, remains one of the major threats.

Egbe said that in Omo Forest Reserve, the last known elephant fatality she could recall occurred around 2012 or 2013. However, human-elephant conflicts have been reported in other areas, including around Itine.

As forests are increasingly encroached upon, she explained, elephants are forced into closer contact with communities.

The resulting destruction of farms and food crops can provoke retaliatory attacks against the animals.

While poaching remains another potential threat, she noted that comprehensive data on elephant losses across all locations was not readily available.

For Ofua, however, one of the biggest challenges confronting elephant conservation in Nigeria is not simply funding but public awareness.

“Conservation is very expensive. You are tempted to almost say money. But no, the greatest challenge conservation is facing in Nigeria is education,” he said.

He estimated that a large majority of Nigerians were unaware that elephants still existed in the country.

Ofua recalled a recent video from Andoni in which a resident appeared amazed after encountering an elephant, despite living in an area where elephants still occur.

“If somebody who stays in that area was just seeing an elephant for the first time, you can imagine somebody who is in Lagos how far away we are in our mindset,” he said.

He urged the media to intensify public education about Nigeria’s wildlife and explain why protecting elephants is not merely an environmental concern but an investment in human survival and economic development.

According to him, elephants play a crucial ecological role as “tenders of the forest.”

Some tree species depend on elephants to consume and disperse their seeds, while other organisms rely on elephant dung for survival.

Consequently, the disappearance of elephants could trigger the loss of other plants, animals and microorganisms within the ecosystem.

“We are not just losing the elephant; we are losing a whole niche,” Ofua said.

He argued that protecting wildlife should not be presented to government as competing with human development.

Rather, he said, conservation could support livelihoods, create employment and protect the natural resources on which communities depend.

The conservationist also called for conservation education to be integrated into the formal education system, particularly at primary and secondary school levels.

By creating greater awareness among young Nigerians, he said, society could develop a culture that values wildlife and natural resources rather than exploiting them without regard for their long-term consequences.

As Nigeria marks World Elephant Day, the message from conservationists is therefore both a warning and an opportunity.

The country may have only a few hundred elephants left, but those remaining animals represent more than a disappearing species. They are part of an intricate ecological system whose survival is closely connected to the health of Nigeria’s forests, biodiversity, communities and, ultimately, human society.

For Nigeria’s elephants, conservationists say, the choice is becoming increasingly stark: protect the remaining population and give it room to recover, or allow continued habitat destruction and conflict to push the species beyond the point of recovery.