Borno hunters kill straying lion

The killing of a lion by hunters in a village in Borno State has been confirmed.

The Director of Forestry and Wildlife, Ministry of Environment in the state, Mr. Peter Ayuba made the confirmation that hunters in the Konduga Local Government Area of the state were responsible.

Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria, Ayuba, on Tuesday said the lion might have strayed from Waza Game Reserve in Cameroon.

“We have similar incidents of elephants from the game reserve entering villages in Kala-Balge Local Government Area.

“There is also an incident of some hyenas killing a man in the bush in Kaga Local Government Area.

“Absence of human activities in some rural communities for several years has transformed many farmlands to thick forest,” Ayuba said.

He explained that the several years of absence of human beings made the animals in reserves to start wandering into the villages.

He added that the villages hitherto had been without humans until now that people were returning to base with the gradual return of peace.

Ayuba urged resettled communities to be careful and vigilant, pointing out that the lion killed on Sunday could have other pride members lurking.

Meanwhile, the Information Officer of the local government, Mallam Asheikh Chabbol, said the lion chased some irrigation farmers in Malari village who had to invite hunters to engage it.

“Hunters engaged the lion, which injured two of them before it was killed.

“The injured hunters are receiving treatment while the carcass of the lion was taken to the Ministry of Environment,”  Chabbol said.

Many years of insurgency may have been responsible for how people deserted their farms which are now overgrown enough for wild animals to occupy.

Now as peace is gradually returning to some areas of the state, humans may have to dislodge some of these intruders from the wild in order to live in peace again.