46-year-old man rescued in Ambam |
A man was arrested in Ambam for unlawful possession of two
mandrills which he had kept in a cage at his residence. The arrest was carried
out by wildlife officials of the Ntem Valley Divisional Delegation of Forestry
and Wildlife with the collaboration of the gendarmerie. The mandrills were
found in a poor state and held in uncomfortable cages. A wildlife law
enforcement support body called LAGA provided technical assistance during the
operation.
The
46-year-old man who is believed to be a businessman and manager of a local
hotel was planning to sell the mandrills before he was stopped short following
his arrest. Prior investigations have proven that he had a female mandrill in
his keeping and recently added a male to the female. When the team arrived the
home of the suspect, they found his wife who indicated where the husband was
and he was informed of the reasons why the team was around. He was then apprehended and taken to the
gendarmerie brigade where legal proceedings were carried out.
According
to sources close to the matter that requested anonymity, the suspect who was
just about to be crowned a quarter head in the town was paradoxically given
assurances by one eco-guard who told him that keeping the animal was not a
problem. This bolstered him and he
intended to keep the two mandrills so that he could get them copulate and
reproduce more mandrills so that he could start a mandrill business. He seemed
to know many people within the locality as he used to freely go around with the
mandrill tied to rope and this unusualbehaviour went unattended to until he was
arrested. The mandrills have been transported to the Mefou Ape Sanctuary for
treatment and lifetime support.
Mandrills
are seriously poached for bushmeat and are totally protected by the wildlife
law. They are listed in class A and considered to be the highest class of
protection provided by the law. Mandrills aren’t afraid to come close to human
increasing their risk of getting killed. They resemble baboons but have very
colourful faces and exist principally in the southern parts of the country.
They live mainly in rainforests in groups that may range from a few dozens to
hundreds. Mandrills feed generally on fruits, tree backs and insects but have
been found to consume eggs, young ones of other monkey species and can hunt
young antelopes for food also. Strong measures need to be taken to enable the
beautiful species to continue to survive in the wild and these measures should
target areas like Ambam where primate trafficking is recurrent.
Last
January, a chimpanzee was rescued in the same town by wildlife officials who
are bent on stopping illegal trafficking in primates, an activity which is on
the rise. Ambam is considered to be a hotspot for trafficking in the country
and the authorities need to work very hard and collaboratively to be able to
tackle the growing problems of trafficking in the town and its environs.
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