BOKI, Nigeria, October 2 — For over two decades, Gabriel Oshie has dedicated his mornings to the Drill Ranch nestled in the Afi Mountain Wildlife Sanctuary of Cross River State, southern Nigeria. Each dawn, he walks through an electric enclosure, distributing bananas and other fruits to care for more than 200 endangered drill monkeys, a species that has become emblematic of the urgent need for wildlife conservation in the region.
Drill monkeys, renowned for their vibrant faces and short tails, rank among the rarest primates globally. They inhabit only select areas in Nigeria, southwestern Cameroon, and Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea. Sadly, their population has dwindled significantly due to rampant deforestation, hunting, and illegal wildlife trafficking. The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that fewer than 4,000 drill monkeys survive in the wild today.
“The beauty of wildlife is essential to our natural world,” Oshie explained, sharing his inspiration for working at the ranch. “Seeing the drill monkeys, the lush forests, and other animals reminds us of nature’s splendor. It is heartbreaking that people continue to destroy wildlife, despite its critical importance.”
**The Impact of Wildlife Crime**
Wildlife crime has emerged as the fourth most lucrative illegal trade globally, raking in billions of dollars each year. With its porous borders and insufficient law enforcement, Nigeria has become a significant hub for traffickers dealing in ivory, pangolin scales, and other endangered species.
Authorities have made efforts to combat this illicit trade by closing bushmeat markets and confiscating smuggled wildlife. One notable success occurred in July when Nigerian customs officials intercepted over 1,600 birds destined for Kuwait at Lagos International Airport, marking one of the largest wildlife trafficking busts in the country.
However, experts warn that these initiatives may falter unless they are supported by stronger conservation laws, better enforcement, and increased public awareness. “The biodiversity crisis in Nigeria is dire,” cautioned Rita Uwaka, Interim Administrator for Environmental Rights Action. “Our forests are vanishing due to industrial plantation expansion, resulting in a significant loss of plant and animal species and devastating consequences for people and the climate.”
Uwaka highlighted that large-scale agricultural companies are often granted concessions that contribute to biodiversity loss, displacing local communities, especially women and vulnerable groups who bear the brunt of these changes. “These companies arrive with promises of development, only to decimate forests crucial for ecological conservation.”
**A Sanctuary for Drills**
The Drill Ranch, founded in 1991 by American conservationists Liza Gadsby and Peter Jenkins through their non-profit organization, Pandrillus, has become the world’s most successful breeding project for drill monkeys, currently housing over 600 individuals.
Initially en route to Botswana, Gadsby and Jenkins stumbled upon a gorilla conservation initiative in Boki and discovered the drill monkeys, previously thought to be nearly extinct outside Cameroon. “At that time, little was known about drills, and they were more endangered than gorillas across Africa,” Gadsby recounted. “The local communities were aware of their existence, but the international community had only recently rediscovered them.”
Their journey transformed from tourism to conservation as they traversed southeastern Nigeria and southwestern Cameroon, gathering information and persuading locals to surrender captive drills. They established a sanctuary in Calabar and later expanded it into a natural habitat in Boki, engaging with 18 local communities to contribute rangers, many of whom were former hunters, to patrol the forests and deter poaching. Their efforts resulted in the surrender of up to 90 drills to the project.
In addition to drill monkeys, the ranch also cares for 27 chimpanzees, a soft-shell turtle, and 29 African grey parrots, which were seized from traffickers in 2021. In a significant conservation success, 25 parrots were released back into the wild in 2024.
The establishment of Pandrillus in Boki, one of Nigeria’s largest green canopies, has fostered substantial conservation efforts. After a decade of lobbying, part of the forest reserve where the ranch is located was declared a wildlife sanctuary by the government in 2000.
**Challenges Ahead**
While the primary goal of the project is to rehabilitate drills for reintroduction into the wild, the rapid deforestation in Boki and Cross River poses a substantial challenge. The flourishing cocoa trade has led many locals to engage in farming, often resulting in the clearing of protected areas, thereby increasing the risk of poaching for both drills and other wildlife.
Government support for conservation efforts has also diminished. Once receiving monthly subventions for animal care, the ranch now heavily relies on international aid and individual donations, making their mission more precarious.
Uwaka remarked that Nigeria’s National Biodiversity Strategic Action Plan could have effectively addressed these challenges, but enforcement remains a critical issue. “While the laws appear robust on paper, they are often ineffective in practice due to weak monitoring systems,” she stated. “Policies must be enacted to discourage poaching and establish strong regulatory frameworks to combat deforestation.”
For Oshie, the success of the ranch hinges on fostering a community that values wildlife conservation. “I am here to protect nature. Without our presence, logging and other destructive activities could overtake this area, harming both the trees and the animals,” he said.
As the fight to save Nigeria’s endangered drill monkeys continues, the efforts of dedicated individuals like Oshie and organizations like Pandrillus highlight the critical intersection of conservation, community engagement, and the urgent need for stronger protections for biodiversity.
