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The Lowland Equatorial Monsoon Ecozone
#Proboscidea (the elephant order)
| Loxodonta africana | (Forest elephant) |
There is definitely a herd in the Ogoni country Opobo District (Calabar Province) which very occasionally and at irregular periods crosses the boundary of the Aba District. In 1925, Mr. A.R. Whitman, then District Officer Aba, reported Elephant as 'occuring in that portion of the district south of the Imo River.' In 1931 I myself was informed by natives of the Aba District that the Elephants had not put in an appearance for five or six years. Capt. E.J.G. Kelly, now District Officer Aba, said (in January 1932): 'So far as is known there are no Elephant, though I have heard rumours of a small heard south of the Imo River. I have never met a native who has actually seen them.' Since then, however, definite news has been received of the Ogoni herd.
Report on the Vertebrate Fauna of the Owerri Province of Nigeria by I.R.P. Heslop, for the Society for the Preservation of the Empire, 1935.
#Hydrocoidea
| Dendrohyrax dorsalis | (the Tree hyrax) |
#Pholidota (the pangolin order)
| Manis gigantea | (the Giant pangolin) |
| Manis tricuspis | (the White-bellied pangolin) |
| Manis tetradactyla | (the Black-bellied pangolin) |
#Rodentia (the rodents)
| Artherurus africanus | (the Brush-tailed porcupine) |
| Hystrix cristata | (the Crested porcupine) |
| Thryonomys swinderianus | (the Grass-cutter) |
| Cricetomys ugambianus | (the Giant rat) |
| Crossarchus obscurus | (the Cusimanse) |
| Protoxerus stangeri | (the Giant forest squirrel) |
| Anomalurus derbianus | (Derby's flying squirrel) |
| Anomalurus beecrofti | (Beecroft's flying squirrel) |
5.11 THE SUB-ECOZONES OF THE LEM ECOZONE OF THE NIGER DELTA
As we have said, within the LEM ecozone are contained smaller areas of riverine, swamp and flood plain ecosystems that may be considered as 'sub-ecozones'. These would have been dominated by broad-leafed trees suited to waterlogged conditions, palms, bamboo and sedges, and associated animals. As these ecosystems are the more general case in FAM and BAM ecozones, they are discussed more fully within the following chapters.
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