Founded in 1915, the Ogba Zoo is a refuge to much of Benin City’s local wildlife. It also houses more than 10 hectares of trees, plants and other vegetation. Ogba Zoo has served partially as a recreational park for the animals and has provided scientific and intellectual value for Nigeria.Of the initial estimated 53 Sq. kilometers of the Ogba forest.-World66
Of the initial estimated 53 Sq. kilometers of the Ogba forest reserve, what is now left is about 1 squre km, which is within the Ogba Zoo.
Massive depletion of this forest reserve took place because of its proximity
to Benin, where hunger for urban land, illegal farming and hardwood are the
vogue. Even the Ogba Zoo had nearly two sq km of urban forest, but it is now
under severe threats from local communities and other land grabbers, as well
as poachers. The Ogba Zoo management, has spent more than 7
years trying to deal with massive encroachment on the Zoo land, which
started under the guise of Govt de-reservation of outlying forest reserves.,
but I see the Conrade Governor putting an end to this charade soon.
However, the Zoo still offers some elements of the pristine nature of our
forests and continues to retain its status as a botanical garden and
arboretum. This last vestige of the Ogba forest reserve is a veritabe gene
bank since it is one of the very few places this Guinea Lowland Rain Forest
has been preserved, especially this being in an urban setting. Students
from Edo State and beyond regularly visit on excursion; including
students of UNIBEN Forestry and Wildlife Department who use the Zoo for
fieldwork.-A. Ehanire
There was a recent issue at the Ogba Zoo. Residents of Ogba, on the outskirt of Benin City were thrown into panic penultimate week when a chimpanzee allegedly escaped from its cage in the Ogba Zoological garden and attacked some fun seekers at the zoo.
One of the victims, Nwoke Chidozie, who sustained injuries in the incident, said he saw other visitors to the zoo scampering for safety after the chimp allegedly escaped from its cage.
“Upon sighting the animal, I tried to save my children from getting attacked, but was attacked by the animal,” he said.
He alleged that the animal grabbed his last son, Divine, and he had to fight the animal by grabbing it at the neck in order to rescue his son.
Police spokesperson, Peter Ogboi, confirmed the story, and added that men of the Airport Road Police Station had to shoot the animal dead when it became clear that it might cause harm to other people.
“The police were invited to the Ogba Zoo on the day of the incident, following the stampede caused by the chimpanzee,” he said. “When it became evident that the chimpanzee had became a threat to others on sight-seeing at the zoo, the best we could do was to ensure that those that have left the cage will have no access to people to injure then. At that point, what was normal was for the police to ensure that the animal does not exist.”
Unhappy zoo keeper
Mr Ehanire however faulted the report of the incident by the victims, including Mr Chidozie, accusing the man and his family of actually aiding the animal to escape from the cage.
He also debunked allegation that the animal caused physical harm to several other visitors to the zoo on the fateful day, as reported by a local television station.
“The man provided the chimpanzee with the iron rod with which it broke the cage,” he said. “A full grown chimpanzee like the one in question is 5 to 7 times stronger than a man. He would not have lived to tell the story if he held the animal. This same man who claimed that the animal attacked him mistakenly struck an attendant of the zoo with an iron rod on the head, while fighting with the chimpanzee. The attendant passed out on the spot, and other visitors had to prevail on the same man who claimed he was attacked to drive the attendant to a hospital in his car.”
Unconfirmed reports said Mr Chidozie has slammed a N15million damage suit on the management of the zoo.
