Conservationists have been assured that wildlife and animal rights will be protected, the new Managing Director of the Forestry Development Authority (FDA) has said.
“I have the passion for wildlife, the green vegetation and natural environment. My tenure will not compromise the rights of animals,” C. Mike Doryen, the new FDA boss said recently.
Doryen was speaking when he led an array of senior officials on a tour of the Libassa Wildlife Sanctuary located at Kpan Town, in Margibi County, outside Monrovia.
He thanked the manager of Libassa Beach, Rudolph Antoure for initiating the construction of the Libassa Wildlife Sanctuary and catering to the animals at his own expense.
The new FDA Managing Director assured the workers at the zoo that he will holding discussions with his senior staffers on the need for monthly token to the entity, although funding for the institution has reduced drastically.
The FDA boss called on Liberians and the police to assist in curbing the killing of protected animals, in order to prevent them from getting extinct.
Speaking shortly before taking the FDA officials on a guided tour of the zoo, the Volunteer Manager of Libasaa wildlife Sanctuary, Luke Barnon said: “the entire staff at the zoo including myself and animals are surviving on donation of five United States Dollars per visitor, which is not sufficient.”
He disclosed that the zoo is currently hosting 80 animals including eagle, ant bags, red deer, alligators, monkeys,
Fourteen of the animals have been released in the wild forest.
The British conservationist added that some of the monkeys are accustomed to human beings so as to get feeding and it will very difficult to release them in the wild.
Liberia has vast eco-tourism potentials. But it has to date done little or nothing to invest in it.
The FDA Managing Director was accompanied by Benjamin Tennessee, the Deputy Managing Director for Administration. Report by Augustine Octavius