“I was completely horrified, I started to cry. It was horrific and very disturbing”, Lucy Keith-Diagne, the founder of the African Aquatic Conservation Fund, says about the video where an African manatee is struggling to get away while he’s being dragged over the streets in Nigeria.
The video was shared on Twitter a few days ago and caused online outrage. The animal is tied in ropes, trying to escape while men are pulling him.
The African Aquatic Conservation Fund supports manatees, also known as sea cows, conservation programs throughout West and Central Africa. One of the countries the organization is active in is Nigeria.
In the last five years, over a hundred manatees have been killed in Nigeria, according to Lucy. Even though the manatee is a protected animal in Nigeria, it’s still being hunted for meat. “Legally there are protections, but those protections are often not enforced, Lucy says.
She’s happy that Sharon Ikeazor, the minister of Environment in Nigeria, contacted her after the video surfaced: “We’ve been trying for years to get the attention of the government to do something about it.” Blue Planet Society connected the two women in hope that together they’ll be able to fight for the safety of the endangered animal.
People don’t know what a manatee is
“In the original video, they call it a sea lion. They don’t know what it is, they just know it’s big and they’re going to eat it”, Lucy says. “People don’t know what it is and also not that it is a protected species.” Education is needed, she adds. With her colleagues, she’s creating educational programs about African manatees.
Listen to the interview with Lucy Keith-Diagne.
photo: Dunsin Bolaji photo: Edem Eniang Lucy with two manatees, photo: Tomas Diagne Manatee trap, photo: Tomas Diagne photo: Tomas Diagne Illegal nets, photo: Ken Cameron
ABS314 I agree so much with you!!
Education is fine, but these people won’t give a damn, especially if there is any money involved. Make this a crime punishable by death. We don’t need this human garbage wiping out our severely declining animals – declining because of people like THEM.