CRI听力: Drill Ranches in Nigeria

The Drill monkey is one of Africa's most endangered primates. In Nigeria, a conservation project has been running for 20 years, establishing a viable captive population at Drill ranches across the country.

Our reporter Li Dong has the details.

The rainforest Drill monkey can only be found within a 40,000-square-kilometer range between Cross River State, Nigeria; Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea; and southwestern Cameroon.

Drill monkeys are listed as a high priority by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Their global population is estimated to be fewer than 10,000.

Adeniyi Egbetade, Project Manager at the Afi Mountain Drill Ranch, says the main aim of the project is to raise the Drills in captivity before reinforcing the existing population at the Afi mountain wildlife sanctuary.

"Releasing the Drills was not an afterthought by the project. It's always been the main thrust of the project to raise them in captivity and try to reinforce the existing population in the Afi mountain wildlife sanctuary. And hopefully before the rain starts we will be cutting the wire and letting them loose."

The Calabar and Afi Mountain Drill ranches were founded by Lisa Gadsby and her business partner 20 years ago.

Gadsby says by using orphaned Drills the ranches have been able to develop national breeding groups.

"We started it 20 years ago, and it was initially just for orphaned Drill monkeys, Africa's highest conservation priority and most endangered primate. The idea behind it was to establish a viable captive population, because that didn't exist at that time and still doesn't in international zoos. So we've been able to succeed with that using orphaned Drills whose mothers have been illegally shot for the bush meat trade, and develop national breeding groups. It's become the world's most successful breeding program for an endangered primate, and I'm proud we are able to do it in Nigeria."

250 Drill monkeys have been born as part of the project.

Hunting for bush meat remains the biggest threat to the Drill population. Gadsby and her staff work closely with Cross River National Park's Anti-poaching teams.

Poachers here target not only the Drill monkeys, but also gorillas and chimpanzees.

One anti-poaching team officer says at times he can meet up to 20 poachers in the jungle.

"You know, it is the survival of the fittest. We have a trick of combating and dealing with such. All we rely on most of all is prayer. So we always pray to God before moving out, and when we enter (the jungle) we pray as well, because any ranger's job is dangerous throughout the world. Ours is not fun."

By introducing another 20 hectares of primary rainforest in the next two years, the project hopes to continue to expand the Drill population.

For CRI, I am Li Dong.