Two arrested with ivory and leopard skins

Wildlife traffickers caught with Leopard skins

Two people arrested in Dschang in the Menuoa Division for trafficking in wildlife products including two leopard skins and 14 ivory pieces.

The arrest that took place on October 28, 2916, was carried out by the Menoua Divisional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife in collaboration with the gendarmerie and the judiciary during an operation that was technically assisted by LAGA, an international NGO specialized in wildlife law enforcement.

                The two suspects, aged 52 and 42, were arrested as they attempted to sell the products. One of them is a sculptor and owns an arts shop not very far from the entrance to the Dschang University. He brought along the ivory pieces but he also does wood objects and besides plying his trade as a sculptor, he dabbles in ivory trafficking according to sources close to the case.

                The Chief of Section Wildlife and Protected Areas at the Divisional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife Dione Vivian Ebong, declared after the operation that if you are found in possession of any protected wildlife, you are breaking the law and must be arrested. She insisted that only those who have registered their products may be legal.  The second suspect who attempted to sell the leopard skins is a 3rddegree chief in a village in Bafou, in the same the division.

                The Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife has in the past called on those keeping wildlife products as ceremonial or traditional symbols to declare and register their products otherwise those products shall be considered illegal while in another moment to regularize this situation, the current Minister Ngole Philip Ngwese wrote a letter dated July 19, 2013 to the West Regional Delegate to invite all holders of wildlife products for traditional ceremonies to come forth and get recorded into a database. 

                According to Dione Vivian Ebong, it is necessary to have legal papers when in possession of wildlife products while also “avoiding to buy wildlife products because you are encouraging trafficking”.

                The operation falls within the framework of the government’s initiative to enforce wildlife laws around the country. This is done through a wildlife law enforcement model that works with the collaboration of an international NGO. The model that started in Cameroon is now operational in nine African countries and Madagascar is the latest in the line of countries that are replicating the model.

                It is expected that when several African countries shall be doing effective wildlife law enforcement, trafficking initiatives which are considered to be one of the main drivers for the falling populations of wildlife on the continent shall be forcefully controlled and obstructed.

                Elephants are facing extinction threats because of their ivory which has become a commodity of choice for traffickers while leopards on the other hand are equally being killed for their skins.

                The story is true for several other African wildlife such as pangolins, which are killed for their scales; the apes for their meat and bones especially the skulls; the crocodile for their skins and meat; the sea turtle for their shells.

                Many conservationists say effective law enforcement can fight the illegal killings and trafficking if other conservation initiatives are to be given a chance to succeed. This is an immediate measure to protect Africa’s wildlife species from extinction.