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***WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT***
A heartbreaking video has emerged of a manatee being dragged along a street in Nigeria.
In the video, a group of men can be seen pulling the helpless creature by a rope tied around its tail, as it desperately flails and flaps its flippers before boisterous onlookers.
The video is believed to have been recorded in the Niger Delta region and began circulating on social media on Saturday.
West African manatees are classed as a vulnerable species and it is illegal to hunt them in Nigeria. The practice, however, is still pervasive, and they remain a target for their meat, oil and organs, which are used in some traditional medicines.
Nigeria's deputy environment minister Sharon Ikeazor strongly condemned the video in a series of tweets and has called for the state's environment commissioner to investigate:
My attention has been drawn to a very distressing & distasteful video of a captured manatee in the Niger Delta Region being dragged on bare ground to a cruel fate by some ill informed/uninformed youth. I strongly condemn this act .... pic.twitter.com/08yPCUf35o
- Sharon Ikeazor (@sharon_ikeazor) February 23, 2020
@FMEnvng is making contact with the Commisioner of Environment in that state to investigate & if possible rescue the manatee & return it to its natural habitat.....
- Sharon Ikeazor (@sharon_ikeazor) February 23, 2020
It is sad that manatees remain one of the most heavily hunted aquatic mammals, the repeated occurrence must be of great concern to us all... pic.twitter.com/QN6rv6bCU3
- Sharon Ikeazor (@sharon_ikeazor) February 23, 2020
In 2015, the International Union for Conservation of Nature estimated there were 10,000 West African manatees living in the wild, though this number is in rapid decline.
The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) says it is crucial, particularly in poverty stricken areas, that people are made aware of conservation efforts.

It said: "In certain regions of the manatee distribution range, there are still sizeable populations of the species. In these regions, education of the public and resource management programmes need to be strengthened with a view to raising public awareness of conservation issues and finding a way of stopping or at least reducing excessive hunting.
"In order to make the population aware of the threats on the manatees, it is important to elaborate a regional programme of sustainable conservation of the West African manatee and its habitat, based on the most reliable scientific data and taking into account the environment and the socio-economic and cultural characteristics of local communities in the distribution area."
Featured Image Credit: Blue Planet Society
Topics: World News, Animals