Cameroon: Elephant trafficker arrested
Cameroon: Elephant trafficker arrested
Solomon Tembang Mforgham, AfricaNews
27 July 2009
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.
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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