Poacher sentenced to 30 years imprisonment (Mozambique)

Author(s)

Club of Mozambique

Date Published
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The Judicial Court of Maputo Province on Wednesday (28) sentenced a poacher to 30 years imprisonment according to a press release released this Sunday (02) by the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC).

.Vusi Geraldo Mucavele, 22 years old, Mozambican national, who was convicted for poaching, is also accused of having made several incursions with the purpose of slaughtering wild animals, mainly rhinos, for the extraction and trafficking of horns.

According to the ANAC, Mucavele was arrested in flagrante delicto at 10 p.m. on January 13, 2022, while returning from yet another poaching round in the cross-border Lebombo region, also known as the Great Lebombo Conservancy (GLC), in the company of two associates who are still at large.

He was arrested in possession of 375 caliber handgun ammunition, an axe for cutting rhino horns, as well as foodstuff. The group had allegedly made their way onto a farm in the wild by jumping the fence with the intention of slaughtering rhinos.

This is the second case in which a poacher is convicted with the same penalty. The first was in January 2022.

Regrettably, from 2008 to 2022 poachers have killed over 8,000 rhinos in the entire region of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park which encompasses the Kruger National Park in South Africa, Zimbabwe’s Gonarezou National Park, the Limpopo National Park and the Game Farms which are located on Mozambican territory along the border with the Kruger National Park, also known by the acronym GLC (Great Lebombo Conservancy).

The area stretches from the south bank of the Elephant River in Massingir, Gaza province, to Ressano Garcia, Moamba district, Maputo province.

This year, alone poachers have slaughtered over 107 rhinos. The most disturbing fact is that there are various groups of criminal networks circulating with large-caliber firearms, such as Magnum 375, 458, 3006 and more.

The success in preventing and combating poaching in the GLC region (Lebombo Game Farms) results from the combined and coordinated action of the Protection and Inspection Services of the National Administration of the Conservation Areas, Natural Resources and Environment Protection Police, the Provincial Command of PRM in Maputo and the inspectors positioned within the referred wild farms.

They are working in coordination with the ANAC Regional Center of Joint Operations and Inspection, located in Captine, Magude district, in the southern province of Maputo, from where they carry out joint operations against poaching.

The Public Prosecutor and the courts also play an important role in protecting biodiversity, improving the judicial processes, handing down heavy penalties to the perpetrators of crimes against the environment, especially poaching.

This is a way to discourage the unbridled demand for large animals such as rhinos, elephants, lions, leopards contributing to their protection.