Why Nigeria should worry about decline in snake population – Biodiversity expert

A Nigerian conservation scientist, Edem Eniang, says he has not encountered some snake species that were once commonly seen in several parts of the country during more than two decades of fieldwork, raising concerns about the state of Nigeria’s poorly monitored snake populations.

Mr Eniang, a professor and executive director of the Biodiversity Preservation Center, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, said habitat destruction, deforestation, indiscriminate killings and illegal wildlife trade were among the pressures threatening snakes, although the absence of long-term, species-specific data makes it difficult to establish the scale of their decline nationally.

“In the last two decades of my field, we have not come across some of our species which were once commonly seen in different localities in Nigeria,” he told PREMIUM TIMES in an interview following his participation in the first World Congress on Snakes in Kandy, Sri Lanka.

The conservationist was Nigeria’s only representative at the four-day international congress, held from 1 to 4 October, which brought together scientists, conservationists and medical experts to examine snake conservation, research and the public health challenges associated with snakebite.

Mr Eniang described his participation as an important milestone for himself, the University of Uyo where he teaches, Nigeria and West Africa, noting that he was the only West African at the international gathering.

He said the inaugural congress provided an important platform for developing strategies to manage snake populations in ways that protect both human wellbeing and biodiversity.

The professor credited the University of Uyo’s management, led by Vice-Chancellor Christopher Ekong, for sponsoring his participation, saying the opportunity brought international recognition to the institution and the West African region.

His account reveals a major gap in Nigeria’s biodiversity protection efforts especially as scientists are reporting worrying changes in the species they encounter in the field although the country lacks a comprehensive monitoring system capable of establishing reliable population trends and identifying the species most at risk.

Mr Eniang said his observations are part of his ongoing research project, code-named Voyage of Discovery, which examines snake populations and the threats facing them.

He identified habitat loss and fragmentation caused by commercial and subsistence agriculture, poorly planned urbanisation and persistent deforestation as major threats. Snake killings, hunting for bushmeat and illegal wildlife trade also contribute to the pressure on the reptiles.

However, he cautioned that Nigeria lacked sufficient long-term, species-specific evidence to confidently quantify population declines or determine the national conservation status of many snake species.

Niger Delta’s vulnerable habitats

Mr Eniang said oil pollution, forest-cover loss, mangrove degradation and wetland contamination were documented environmental problems across the Niger Delta.

But he noted that research specifically establishing the effects of these pressures on snake populations in Akwa Ibom and the Niger Delta remained limited.

He said the absence of such evidence should prompt governments and research institutions to invest in systematic monitoring rather than overlook the reptiles in conservation programmes.

He called on federal and state governments to establish long-term snake-monitoring systems, protect and restore critical mangrove forests and freshwater swamps, and enforce environmental regulations.

He also recommended collaborative research using geographic information systems, remote sensing, field surveys and community reporting to identify threatened habitats and improve understanding of snake populations.

The professor called on funding agencies and corporate organisations to reconsider what he described as their bias against snake research, arguing that studying the reptiles was important to both environmental conservation and human health.

Snakebite, conservation must go together

Beyond habitat destruction, Mr Eniang said Nigeria’s approach to snakebite and snake conservation was undermined by treating them as separate concerns.

He argued that protecting people from dangerous snakebites should not require indiscriminate killing of snakes, many of which perform important ecological functions, including controlling rodent populations.

In his assessment, fragmented data, inadequate access to effective anti-venom and harmful traditional first-aid practices compound the problem.

He said Nigeria needed a funded national strategy that combines snake conservation with snakebite prevention and treatment, supported by reliable anti-venom production and supplies, improved hospital reporting, community education and research into species identification.

He also called for a coordinated national monitoring network to generate evidence on snake populations and guide conservation decisions.

He said such measures should align with the World Health Organisation’s goal of reducing deaths and disability from snakebite by 50 per cent by 2030.

Snakebite remains a major public health challenge globally, with more than 100,000 people dying annually and thousands more suffering permanent disabilities, according to figures cited in reports on the burden of the condition.

In Nigeria, the challenge is compounded by the need to improve public understanding of snakes, including the distinction between venomous species that pose serious risks to humans and those that are less dangerous.

Mr Eniang said improved research and public education could help communities respond more safely to encounters with snakes while reducing unnecessary killings.

Global conservation concern

The professor’s warning follows growing international concern about the survival of snake species.

A 2026 report submitted to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora found that 184 of 1,679 globally assessed snake species, or about 11 per cent, were threatened with extinction.

An earlier landmark study published in Nature in 2022 found that at least 1,829 of the 10,196 reptile species assessed worldwide, representing 21.1 per cent, were threatened with extinction. Agriculture, logging and urban development were among the major threats identified.

The World Congress on Snakes sought to advance scientific research and international collaboration on these challenges, while addressing the relationship between snake conservation and human safety.