Wildlife Trafficker Found to Have Had a Live Chimpanzee, and Chimpanzee Skulls

A wildlife trafficker has been arrested in Bissombo, Bengbis in the South Region. He was arrested in possession of a live chimpanzee, elephant parts and chimpanzee skulls, some of which were still fresh, implying that the animals had just been killed to obtain those parts for illegal trade.

The animals are suspected to have been captured or killed within the Dja Reserve which stretches from the South to the East Regions. Wildlife law enforcement authorities in that Region have established a case file against the trafficker who is now behind bars. The live chimpanzee was taken to the Mefou National Park in the Centre Region by the Cameroon Wildlife Aid Fund (CWAF) management where it is receiving veterinary and feeding care.

Before this recent arrest a trafficker with a long history of illegal killing of elephants had been arrested around the Dja Reserve area in Somalomo, Messamena in the Upper Nyong Division of the East Region. The trafficker was found in possession of the trunk of a young elephant and other elephant parts.

The operations that led to the arrest of these traffickers were carried out by the East and South Regional Delegations of Forestry and Wildlife in collaboration with the Forces of Law and Order, the Upper Nyong Divisional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife and the Judiciary. These operations are in consonant with the on-going nation-wide programme on wildlife law enforcement launched by government in 2003 with technical assistance from The Last Great Ape Organisation (LAGA) which aims at bringing violators of the 1994 wildlife law to justice amidst wide media coverage to create deterrence in wildlife crime which hitherto has been a missing ingredient in the conservation formula in Africa South of the Sahara.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Forestry of Forestry and Wildlife is now in a renewed alert mode to track down and sanction, all those trafficking in wildlife species totally protected by the law of 1994 governing the wildlife sector in Cameroon. The law stipulates that anyone found in possession of part of dead or live protected wildlife species is liable to a prison term of up to 3 years and or payment of a fine of up to 10 million CFA francs. The effective enforcement of this law has made Cameroon to be seen by the international community as a world leader in wildlife conservation. "Cameroon is seen more and more by the international community as a land of wildlife conservation where the wildlife law and policy are good and well balanced", states Professor Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, Minister of Forestry and Wildlife.

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