A Ray of Hope

This blog is about an emerging ray of hope for the wildlife in the country, Liberia in Africa but before moving on to that let me explain using a few examples as to why this ray of hope had to emerge and for what.

In my previous blogs I have mentioned how animals like Chimpanzees and Pangolins are recklessly poached and hunted for bushmeat and illegal wildlife trade. Not only this but the continued expansion of human settlements and developmental activities are destroying their natural habitats.

In Africa, Pangolins are poached for bushmeat and also for a variety of non-medicinal purposes, such as improving finances, improving luck, or protecting against spiritual forces. Some groups in Nigeria believe the flesh of the pangolin can give the consumer the power of divination, or otherwise bring good luck, safety, or calmness.

Now let us discuss two of the major threats to the wildlife of Liberia.

Bushmeat –

Before the outbreak of the devastating Ebola virus, Jessica Junker and her colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology based in Leipzig, Germany, had studied Liberians’ preferences for bushmeat compared to chicken or fish. They found out that people preferred bushmeat over meat of domesticated animals because bushmeat is cheaper, tastier (according to them) and also because the locals consider it as a part of their tradition carried on by their forefathers. It was also found out that if they have access to bushmeat, they would prefer it on a regular basis.

This survey was held again during the outbreak of Ebola. It had surely caused terrific harm to everyone but on the positive side it had reduced the consumption of bushmeat. It dropped tremendously among the poor to once a month and once a week among the wealthier sections.

But it was suspected that even as soon as the crisis got over people would have shifted back to bushmeat due to their preference.

Illegal Wildlife Trade –

Liberia is a key source and transit country for illegal wildlife trade (IWT) in West Africa. Animals like Chimpanzees are captured to be sold as pets and for entertainment purposes, Pangolins are sold for their meat and scales to be used in luxurious dishes and traditional medicines in countries like Vietnam and China, Elephants are hunted for their ivory which is sold at tremendously high rates in the international black market, etc.

Liberia is continuously on the path of losing its wildlife and if significant actions are not taken, it might lose some of its critically endangered species for once and for all. The Western Chimpanzees for example is categorised as a critically endangered species according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and protected under the laws in Liberia. Small infants are captured from the wild and sold to tourists who pity on the small infant primates but indirectly create further demand for them and the adults who try to protect the infants of their kind are killed and sold to fulfil the demand of bushmeat among the people.

Usually my blogs lay emphasis on the root cause of the problem but this blog is particularly about the cure to the problem, the cure being the Libassa Wildlife Sanctuary, Liberia’s first and only wildlife rescue center.

The Libassa Wildlife Sanctuary was opened on May 6th, 2017 to work for the welfare of wildlife in Liberia. Their work includes providing the best care possible to the animals confiscated from people keeping wild animals as pets, taking them to be sold illegally or to be killed for bushmeat. The animals then spend time in the naturalistic enclosures at the sanctuary which ensures a speedy recovery. These animals are then released back into the forests where they belong, away from humans. But unfortunately all the animals are not always fit to be released back into the wild. This can be because of reasons like permanent physical disability or attachment with their human keeper especially in case of primates, who in spite of less human contact can become very attached to their keeper, thus making them unfit to be released into the wild. This might sound weird, but primates create a social bonding and keeping them away can make their lives extremely stressful and vulnerable.

Apart from this, the sanctuary works hard to create awareness about illegal wildlife trade, bushmeat trade and in general about the wildlife of Liberia. So far, from the 555 animals who have entered the sanctuary, 277 have been released back successfully to their natural habitats, thus, helping replenish their wild population.

Taking care of so many animals, providing proper medication, making naturalistic enclosures, feeding them and organizing awareness programmes requires a lot of funds. It’s great to see that even during these tough times when we are not free from worrying for ourselves, there are these people who are giving their all to take care for the wildlife. Even in my previous blogs I have mentioned how it depends upon your will to take action, wildlife is all around you.

Through this blog it is my honour to promote the fundraising campaign of the Libassa Wildlife Sanctuary and I highly request you all to donate any amount you can afford, even the smallest amount would be much appreciated and it would motivate all the members as well to continue working for the wildlife of Liberia. Just don’t go on what I say, I will link down their website link and social media handles for you to see by yourself the hard work these amazing human beings are putting in. Their regularly released videos and updates create a great transparency for people following them. They also have an interesting column on their website where you can virtually adopt an animal of their sanctuary and pay for its monthly expenses. You can also physically visit them at the sanctuary with a fee of just 10 US dollars which again goes for the well keeping, rescuing and rehabilitating of the animals.

Libassa Wildlife Sanctuary is also an officially registered NGO in partnership between the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), the European Union, Humane Society International and the Tikki Hywood Foundation (Zimbabwe).

Many of us might want to help the wildlife around ourselves but that is not possible always, so we can use this opportunity to donate to the Libassa Wildlife Sanctuary so they can protect wildlife and create awareness in areas where it is needed the most. Even if your pockets don’t allow you to do so, please share about their sanctuary and the great work they are putting in every single day. Contribute in any way possible for this ray to shine over the ill-activities against wildlife in Liberia.

Libassa Wildlife Sanctuary

Website – https://libassawildlifesanctuary.org/

Instagram handle – https://www.instagram.com/libassa_wildlife_sanctuary/?hl=en

Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/Libassa-Wildlife-Sanctuary-LiWiSa-1223056101120957/