Accra, May 12, GNA - Former President Jerry John Rawlings has called on the Department of Wildlife, Ghana Wildlife Society and other relevant conservation bodies to intensify efforts at educating Ghanaians about endangered animal species.

He said most of the endangered species were becoming extinct locally because some persons possibly due to ignorance still hunted them for food.. Former President Rawlings made the call following the killing of a rare African Manatee by a fisherman on the Volta River recently.

He noted that sea cows used to be hunted for food but the practice stopped when people became aware of the fact that they were endangered species.

"It is, however, disturbing that some hunters and fisherman are so ill-informed that they kill rarely sighted animals anytime they encounter= them.

"It is important that we educate them about potential sightings of so= me of these rare species so they do not ignorantly help in making them extin= ct", he said.

Manatees are large fully aquatic and herbivorous marine mammals sometimes known as sea cows. They are grass eating, harmless, noted for their friendly nature and paddle-like flippers, which are mistaken for breasts. The West African Manatee is the least studied of the different types of Manatees across the world.

Very rarely sighted, the Trichechus senegalenses, as they are scientifically known are found in coastal marine and estuarine habitats and in fresh water river systems along the west coast of Africa from the Senegal River south to the Kwanza River in Angola, including areas in Gambia, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Cote D=B9Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, Republic of Congo, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Although crocodiles and sharks occasionally kill manatees in Africa,=

their significant threats especially in Ghana, are from humankind, such a= s poaching, habitat loss, and other environmental impacts.

Former President Rawlings who has recently been involved in efforts to rid the lower Volta Basin of weeds that have stagnated its flow and causing river diseases, said a lot of education should be done on these species so that local folk could help to prevent their indiscriminate killing. The manatee or sea cow breeds once every two years and has a 12-mont= h gestation period, taking about 12 to 18 months to wean the calf. With only one calf born at a time, conservation is key to the surviv= al of the sea mammal in the country's waters. 12 May 10