Cameroun - Cameroon: Over 100 kg of giant pangolins scales seized, two arrested

The two suspects were arrested during an operation carried out in Ngaoundal by wildlife officials from the Djerem Divisional Delegation of Forestry with support from the Judiciary and administrative officials.

The operation that led to the arrest was carried out with the technical assistance of an international NGO called LAGA and the arresting team comprised elements from the gendarmerie territorial brigade in Ngaoundal. The two were arrested for illegal possession of 128 kg of scales from the giant pangolin which is listed in class A of the wildlife law giving the species total protection .

When information on the arrest of the 46-year-old man and his 35-year-old co-offender was received by the DO for Ngaoundal, he immediately went to the gendarmerie territorial brigade where he held a brief discussion with the Chief of Brigade and promised support from his office to the legal proceedings against the traffickers..

Sources close to the case say the main trafficker had transported the scales from Tibati were he resides to Ngaoundal where he planned to do business and shortly before his arrest he hired a car that transported the scales and stopped in front of a bar where the driver and his assistant off loaded the scales stocked in used rice bags. They deposited the bags in front of the bar that was considered to be the place of transaction and before he could proceed to do business, the arresting team got them..

The driver who was also stopped pleaded with the team saying he had simply been hired to transport the stuff and had no part to play in the deal. The team believed him and accompanied by his assistant, they were allowed to leave. The traffickers had made several observation rounds around the area to ensure it was suitable for business before embarking on getting the car to transport the products.

A payment receipt recovered from of one of traffickers indicated a payment of 114 000 francs for a wildlife trafficking offense given by a ruling of the Tibati courf of first instance, indicating he is a repeat offender and prior investigations revealed he is part of a network of giant pangolin scales trafficking that is a rampant in the area is close to the Mbam Djerem National Park that was classified in 2000 to protect the several wildlife species and their habitat. Tibati serves as his base which is not far from the park and his activities extend to far off commercial centres of Yaounde and Bertoua.

A house search was conducted later in the day at the premises of a concubine of one of the ttraffickers. Several parts of other primate species including the chimpanzee where found at the woman’s house.

Pangolin scales are fast becoming a commodity of choice for wildlife traffickers who have the necessary organizational skills and logistics to handle because they are bulky. Recently online reports say over 4 tons of pangolin scales were seized in Hong Kong. It was shipped from Cameroon. The rising scale of the trade is obliging some conservationists to call for a destruction of scales stocks pilled from seizures. This is the case with ivory stocks that have been destroyed by several nations, weary of the plummeting population of elephant that are killed for ivory.

The pangolin is gradually making its name in conservation circles. A few years back very few talked about this species that is mainly nocturnal and was barely studied. Sadly, it is the trafficking in its scales that is raising awareness and although some argue it is nevertheless coming out from oblivion with many measures now targeting the animal, many fear that it may be too little or too late, while concluding that time may be running out fast for the scaly anteater.

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