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Conservator General of the National Park Service (NPS), Dr. Ibrahim Goni, has urged Nigerians to have behavioural change towards wildlife to curb some avoidable diseases like COVID-19 in the country.
Goni, who stated this while interacting with journalists in Abuja, however, cautioned Nigerians about the dangers of going hunting, eating and trading on wildlife, as well as using wild domestic animals as pets during this period.
“We have received reports that people still eat and sell various species of dead monkeys, cat, and birds such as bats, as well as pangolins suspected to be at the centre of COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
Explaining further, Goni said Pangolin, the world’s most trafficked mammal was believed to have been a vector in the leap of the novel coronavirus from animal to human at a market in China’s Wuhan city last year.
“They are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine, although scientists argue that they have no therapeutic value. This pandemic should make hunters to consider the health not just of humans, but also of animals and the environment to avert future crises,” he stressed.
