Traditional knowledge and culture protect the last refuge of endangered monkey in Nigeria
Only a 15-minute drive away from the busy city center of Uyo, in southern Nigeria, one of the most threatened and lesser-known species of monkeys in the world still survives, thanks to a powerful local tradition in conserving the animal. “The people of Itam believe that it is a deity”, explains professor Edem Eniang, Executive Director of the Biodiversity Preservation Center (BPC) and a native of the area. Known locally as Adiaha Awa Itam, the Sclater’s monkey (Cercopithecus sclateri) is a small primate endemic to this region, which was o...