By RFIPublished on 12/29/2019 Modified on 12/29/2019 at 10:57 p.m.
250 elephants have been sighted in Borno state, northeast of Nigeria. But the presence of pachyderms worries local communities who live in difficult conditions and in an area where Boko Haram is still rampant.
The herd of elephants was photographed on December 19 during a humanitarian mission to the outskirts of Kala Balge. These pachyderms come from neighboring Cameroon. It has been more than a decade since an elephant ventured into this part of Nigeria, where the Islamist group Boko Haram continues to operate.
Elephants in Borno State? If this is real it is a very exciting discovery indeed. https://t.co/2AdTCiLLTO
WCS Nigeria Program (@WCS_Nigeria) December 21, 2019Since February, several hundred Nigerian refugees who had fled to Cameroon have returned to settle in this region of Borno state. Many are still living in precarious conditions, and the arrival of these elephants worries them.
" In general, local communities don't like elephants ," says Peter Ayuba, the director of forests for Borno State. They are not really concerned about their preservation. They don't understand the point. People only want to get rid of elephants so that they don't destroy their crops. Because when they pass, these pachyderms eat everything in their path. For the moment, the villagers have managed to repel them, by shooting in the air, to the locality of Makanderi. There is an important marsh there. "
" These elephants come from Waza national park in Cameroon ," continues Peter Ayuba. They are fleeing from floods. The Cameroonian authorities opened a dam and the water poured out. We have made requests to buy firecrackers to push them back where they should be, where they will be safe and the communities too. "
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