Pastor arrested with 19 chimp skulls in Yaounde

A man who was identified by a close relation as a pastor was arrested on December 16, 2015 as he tried to sell 19 chimp skulls in Yaounde. He had travelled from Meyomessala in the South Region to Yaounde and shortly after he arrived, hired a taxi to a popular neighbourhood in Yaounde to hook up with a client.
    He was arrested during his attempts at contacting a client, visibly to sell the chimpanzee skulls.
    The operation was carried out by wildlife officials from the control brigade of the Centre Regional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife working in collaboration with policemen from the 10th police district located in Bastos, Yaounde. They received technical assistance from an NGO called LAGA.
    During preliminary investigations leading to his arrest, it was uncovered that his elder brother is a poacher and had supplied some of the skulls to the suspect while he bought some from other poachers in villages around Meyomessala. Upon hearing of the arrest, one of his close relations who said he was an uncle, arrived at the police station for his assistance and was visibly shocked by what he saw. He told officials that his niece was a pastor. The suspect had a receipt for the establishment of a national identification card and his profession could not be independently verified but he never contested what his uncle said.

    One of the gorilla skulls was partially painted in orange, something that had been observed earlier in the month in Doume, East Region, following the arrest of two men for gorilla skull trafficking. In this case, a gorilla skull was totally painted in orange and while some specialists in the domain think this is meant for disguise, an inhabitant of Doume said Chinese buyers like it painted for preservation purposes. Others hold that traditional healing practices or pure mysticism may be the reason for painting skulls.
    Ape skulls which are generally obtained after the meat has been slashed and eaten seem to be rising in value and this is threatening the survival of the great apes because intense poaching pressures are brought to bear on ape populations. Lucie Labbouz, a French conservationist and volunteer  who is presently the Head of Conservation at In Defence of Animals(IDA) a wildlife body that manages the  the Sanaga Yong Chimpanzee sanctuary where orphaned and rescued chimpanzees are given protection and care  says “Great apes are disappearing mainly because of intensive poaching and the disappearance of their natural habitat. It is for this reason that the Cameroon government declared total protection for great apes, chimpanzees and gorillas”.