A suspected wildlife trafficker was
arrested on the 29th of March 2016, in Bafang in the Upper Nkam Division of the
West Region following a sting operation carried out by wildlife officials from
the Divisional Delegation working on information gathered through
investigations that took several weeks to complete. The team that was assisted
by gendarmes arrived at the scene of transaction to find the trafficker with a
consignment of various wildlife species including a skin slashed from a young
python, a mandrill, an elephant tail, three fresh heads from recently killed
chimpanzees and seven chimp skulls.
The
37-year suspect travelled from Nkondjock in the Littoral Region, where he
collected the products from some poachers to Bafang to do business. As he sat
waiting for his client, wildlife officials who had completed investigations on
his movements arrived to whisk him away for interrogation. Shocked he offered
no resistance, but quietly obeyed orders given to him. The operation was
carried out with the technical assistance from an NGO called The Last Great
Organisation (LAGA).
This
is a special kind of trafficker who deals in various types of wildlife species,
experts say, demonstrating that trafficking is a profession albeit an illicit
one. In such a scenario, the trafficker has a huge base of poachers who supply
various kinds of wildlife species. What was of particular interest to by
standers was the three chimpanzee heads from freshly killed chimpanzees.
Since
the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife is on a
renewed alert to stem the trafficking of protected species in the country. In
this respect, Sakoue Isaac, the Upper Nkam Divisional Delegate of Forestry and
Wildlife, declared shortly after the arrest of the man by the forces that: “Ignorance of the law is no excuse, we are
now at the repressive stage and anyone who defies the wildlife law shall be
dealt with accordingly”. This what the Ministry has been doing over the last
couple months with important collaborative efforts with LAGA to arrest an
already precarious situation.
It
should be noted that an estimated 4000 chimpanzees are killed each year to
supply the blossoming meat market in Africa and as by-products of the illicit meat trade,
chimpanzee heads and skulls are attracting a different kind of buyers.
Investigations carried out in the country over the last couple of years show
that this specialized trade is cross boundary and buyers come from as far as
Nigeria to fetch chimp heads and skulls.
Pic
Bafang trafficker
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