Cameroon: Elephant trafficker arrested

  1. Posted on Monday 27 July 2009 - 06:50
    Mforgham
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    Solomon Tembang Mforgham, AfricaNews reporter in Limbe, Cameroon
    An elephant trafficker in the Upper Nyong division of the Centre region of Cameroon has been arrested by wildlife guards. A gendarme officer is allegedly involved in the crime. Investigations are still on-going in the crime that took place in the protected area of Dja.
    Kenya, Samburu National Reserve, African Elephants, young and old, crossing the Uaso Nyiro river. Photo: Fred Hoogervorst
    The arrest of the trafficker, with a long history of killing elephants in the Dja Reserve, took place at Somalomo, Messamena, in the Eastern Region of Cameroon.

    The trafficker was caught red-handed carrying the fresh trunk of a young elephant, killed in the protected area.

    Before this arrest, another dealer was sentenced to five years imprisonment in Buea for killing seven elephants in the Korup National Park, located in the South West Region of the country.

    The Cameroon government, in conjunction with the Last Grape Ape Organisation (LAGA) and the Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), has stepped up the fight against poaching amidst the declining population of elephants.

    Reports say 23,000 elephants were slaughtered in 2006 alone.

    These organisations predict that if the government of Cameroon does not continue to take draconian measures against traders in elephant parts like ivory, the animal will be extinct in ten years.

    Cameroo's Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, Prof. Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, has expressed his gratitude to those committed to protecting wildlife in the country.

    The fight against poaching, particularly in the reserve areas of Cameroon, is carried out with the support of the forces of law and order and the judiciary.

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