The founder and CEO of EbonyLife TV, Mo Abudu has taken to her social media handle to thank the people of Cross River and the government for protecting wildlife, as she reacts to the discovery of Gorilla family captured by a camera trap in Cross River Nigeria. The Gorillas which are now popularly known as the Cross River Gorillas, since the news broke over the weekend, are said to be unique and extremely endangered, with only 300 of them believed to still be alive on the planet.
Mo Abudu who joined others to celebrate the discovery, said the news brought back fond memories, especially during her time in Cross River where she said EbonyLive Tv studio started and located.
Posting photos of the Cross River Gorillas on her Instagram account on Monday 13th July 2020, she captioned the photos sharing some of these memories that the Gorillas have brought. She captioned the photos with:
“It gives me special joy to share this post.
I will always love Cross River State, I have such fond memories of how we started our EBONYLIFE TV journey in Calabar,” she said.
She continued by adding that:
“Thank you H.E Senator Liyel Imoke and my dear sis Obioma Liyel Imoke for welcoming us to Calabar in 2012.
On hearing about this special story about these unique Gorillas brought back so many beautiful memories about our time at Studio Tinapa in Calabar.
This photo above shows a group of Cross River gorillas which was taken by a camera trap in the Mbe Mountains of Nigeria by the Wildlife Conservation Society of Nigeria.
The sub-species is known to inhabit some regions in Nigeria and Cameroon. Cross River gorillas are extremely endangered and only 300 are believed to still be alive on the planet. They are the rarest of all the great apes.
These new photos, show the creatures in the mountainous region of southern Nigeria. The shots also reveal a number of infant gorillas as well.
These pictures are fuelling hopes that the Cross River gorillas are surviving and reproducing,” she added.
The news of the Cross River Gorillas was first reported by CNN and the BBC, where they reported that conservationists in a rare sighting, captured the new images of the world’s rarest gorillas with several babies in southern Nigeria.
The reports added that the Cross River gorilla, is critically endangered and at one point only about 300 were known to be alive within the mountainous area in Nigeria and Cameroon, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The gorillas tend to avoid humans and have been targeted by hunters in the past. The latest sighting is proof that Cross River gorillas are “well protected and reproducing,” after decades of being targeted by hunters, Inaoyom Imong, director of Cross River Landscape for Wildlife Conservation Society Nigeria said in a statement.
(📸: WCS Nigeria)