Man arrested over Old World Monkey

Please, it turned out the monkey seized was a collared mangabey instead of agile mangabey

By a Correspondent

Wildlife trafficker caught with old world monkey

 

Wildlife law enforcement officials of the Littoral Regional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife have arrested two people for illegal possession and commercialisation of a live collared mangabey in Douala. A 48-year old man was arrested alongside his   40-year old accomplice in the Nkololounneighbourhood in Douala at about 4 pm on Thursday March 6, 2014 in relation to the crime.  The agile mangabey that was found near a welding workshop was confiscated.  .

                The animal was rescued from an inappropriate living condition. The main suspect in the matter claims he took possession of the animal some three years ago. During the day, the mangabey was tied to a 1.5 metre long rope and in the night it was caged and locked up in a nearby welding workshop. Immediately the animal was rescued veterinarians at the Limbe Wildlife Centre were informed and they travelled to the Littoral Regional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife in Bonanjo, Douala where they collected the animal and took it to the Limbe zoo. A medical examination shall be conducted on the monkey before its introduction to the zoo among other monkeys there, they said.

                The collared mangabey is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN red list categories meaning it is severely hunted and should be classified as in danger of extinction. It is a noisy animal like its cousins the agile mangabey and this noise is the root of the danger that it constantly faces. The noise gives away the animal’s position in the forest and attracts poacher to its positions. The collared mangabey is found in coastal, swamp, mangrove, and valley forests, from western Nigeria, east and south into Cameroon, and throughout Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon, and on the Gabon-Congo border by the Atlantic shore.

                According to law No. 94-01 of 20 January 1994 governing the forestry, wildlife and fisheries sector and subsection 158, anyone who possesses the whole or part of a live or dead protected animal is liable to a prison term of 1 to 3 years and or a fine of up to maximum 10 million CFA francs. And mangabeys because of the threat of extinction that hangs over the species, the continuous killing of these monkeys for their meat, it has become an imperative for wildlife officials to give it further protection and an intensification of the fight against the its trafficking. This is something that has over the last ten years been going on through the programme on effective wildlife law enforcement launched in 2003 by the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife.