A 33-year old man was arrested on Tuesday
April 26, 2016 for trafficking in sea turtle shells, chimpanzee skulls and
pangolin scales in Eseka. The arrest was carried out by wildlife officials of
the Nyong and Kelle Divisional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife in
collaboration with the gendarmerie territorial brigade in Eseka and with
technical assistance from The Last Great Ape Organistion LAGA.
The
operation was conducted at the Eseka II neighbour, in a bar not very from the
Gendarmeire Brigade premises as the suspect sat drinking a beer. The man had
been tracked from the moment he alighted from a bike that left him in front of
the bar. He carried a big bag that indicated some bulky load was inside and
when he entered the bar, got a beer a
from the counters and settled for a drink, the arresting team approached him
and asked what he had inside the bag that was sandwiched in between his legs.
He said he doesn’t know what the bag contained and this drew some curious faces
around.
The
bag was opened and when the contents
were revealed and an officer shot a similar question to know what he was doing
with all the stuff, which included 8 sea turtle shells, 3 chimpanzee skulls and
a few kilogrammes of pangolin scales. He again said he doesn’t know and could not
explain anything. He was asked to come along to the wildlife office for
clarification but he told officials to wait for him to finish his beer. The
team sat and watched as he gulped down the full contents of the bottle.
The
arrest is part of a wider government strategy to conserve wildlife species in
the country and trafficking in protected species including sea turtles,
chimpanzees and pangolins is prohibited by the law. Illegal trade in endangered
species like sea turtles and tortoises is fast paving the way for their
extinction, and one of the ways of preventing it is the strict application of
the law- a fine of up to 10 million
francs and or a maximum prison sentence of up to 3 year is handed to defaulters
of the wildlife law.
Sea
turtles are reported to be one of the most ancient creatures on earth. The
species found today have been around for about 120 million years that is longer
than the dinosaurs which have long gone extinct. They are found in all warm and
temperate waters throughout the world but their survival is now under threat as
growing seizures of turtle shells indicate they are facing intense poaching.
Apart
from trafficking, two other threats menace the species survival. Climate change
plays an important role because the temperature at which the sea turtle egg
incubates determines the sex of the turtle. As global temperatures continue to
rise, sea turtles could be faced with the reality of only females being born at
very high temperatures. Climate change is reported to increase severe storms
and the rise of sea levels which destroy sea turtle nesting sites. And to compound matters the poaching of its
eggs for food poses a another serious threat to its reproductive abilities.
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