1906: Gorilla Killed at Asaba. From the handwritten note on the postcard, this is what is written: At the bottom: Young Gorilla Killed at Asaba, West Africa, 1906. It says the two boys belong to the Ibo Tribe. Bottom left printed: T. A. BEARD That photograph is famous because it shows that in 1906 gorillas were present around the Asaba axis, which is in present day Delta State. That is far west of where gorillas are found today. Today Nigeria's gorillas, the Cross River gorilla, are only found in the very remote mountain forests along the Nigeria Cameroon border in Cross River State, in places like Afi Mountain, Mbe Mountains and Okwangwo. Less than 300 remain in the wild. Why was the killing allowed by the colonial people at that time: At that time there was no wildlife protection law in Southern Nigeria. The first real game laws and forest reserves came much later in the 1930s. In 1906 the colonial administration saw large primates as either vermin that destroyed farms, as bushmeat, or as valuable specimens for museums and for trophy photographs. Hunting by locals and by Europeans was not restricted. A dead gorilla was treated as a curiosity and as proof of exploration, not as an endangered animal. It was the era of scientific collection and sport hunting, where colonial officers and visitors collected skulls, skins and photographs to send back to Europe. The idea of conservation or endangered species did not exist in colonial policy yet.