CAMEROUN :: Three wildlife traffickers arrested in Ebolowa with 14 ape skulls :: CAMEROON

Three wildlife traffickers were arrested on March 16, 2016 following a sting operation carried out by The South Regional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife working in collaboration with the gendarmerie in Ebolowa. The three aged between 24 and 26 were arrested as they attempted to sell a haul of wildlife products consisting of several apes skulls, some of which were from freshly killed gorillas and chimpanzees.

One of the traffickers is a suspected big time ivory trafficker and preliminary investigations indicated that he owns several guns which he uses to kill elephants and has been carrying out the illicit business in ivory with one “Alhadji” who comes in from the Briquetterie neighbourhood in Yaounde. It is on the basis of this illicit ivory trade that investigations were launched into his activity and instead of ivory, 8 chimpanzee and 4 gorilla skulls were found in the possession of the three who were arrested thanks to assistance provided by an NGO called The Last Ape Organisation (LAGA). Each of the three traffickers had their own skulls among the wildlife products seized from them. The other two had joined him to sell their own skulls when they were arrested.

Inside source say during the period leading to the arrest of the three suspects, one of them had boasted, he kills gorillas or chimpanzees for food and equally does so during his hunting expeditions and this explains why he had a good number of chimpanzee skulls to sell. This allegation reveals another side of the trafficking business as other protected wildlife species become victims when poachers go deep into the forests for days to kill elephants. They simply just kill other wildlife species for food. .

In an effort to stem the illegal trade in wildlife species, the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife signed a convention with The Last Great Ape Organisation (LAGA) with the main objective being the tracking and arresting of wildlife law offenders and getting them imprisoned, if found guilty. Since 2003, this collaboration has produced several high profile arrests with major international traffickers arrested and given prison sentences of up to 3 years which is the maximum imprisonment term according to the law which states that anyone found in possession of parts of a protected wildlife species is considered to have killed the animal. The conservation of the country’s great apes is one of the main functions of the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife and wildlife law enforcement is part of this effort.

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