By Jonathan Ugbal
There was brief commotion in the Bitiah Irruan community of Boki local government area of central Cross River State on Friday last week when a Chimpanzee decided to follow a farmer home.
The farmer is said to have seen the Chimpanzee in the bush and it is unclear exactly what he did that may have endeared the animal to him.
This was revealed by a Facebook user, Osang Gabriel in a post on Saturday.
Osang, however, confused the animal for a gorilla as he referred to it as a “gorilla” instead of a chimpanzee.
“wonders shall not end. A gorilla followed a farmer from the bush to his house at bitiah irruan boki cross River State to his living house live,” Osang wrote.
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The unexpected visitor drew an unexpected crowds to the unidentified farmer’s home.
A conservationist, Mr. Ben Atsu says the farmer may have a run in with the law if he fails to report to relevant authorities.
“The images I saw are that of common chimpanzee with the binomial name Pan Trogolyde,” Mr. Atsu told CrossRiverWatch.
He continued: “We have mostly drill monkeys over there, but there are chimps too and the Gorilla Gorilla Delhi.
“However, when an animal leaves the conserved or reserved area, you are allowed to term it as game but right now, what he may be in possession of is an endangered specie and he has to report to the authorities as he risks prosecution.
“There is need for him to contact the National Park Service in Okwangor division or the Drill Ranch in Buanchor for appropriate directions or he may face some jail time.”
The Pan Trogolydes is a specie in the “Genus Pan, the Family Hominidae, the Infraorder Simiiformes the Suborder Haplorhini and the Order Primates; that is its taxonomy,” said Mr. Atsu.
As at press time, the identity of the farmer was still a mystery and it was unclear what decision he may have made.
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