WILDLEX

On the night of 2 October 2016, elements of the Forestry and Wildlife control post of Kika, Moloundou were on a wildlife control mission and arrested four accused persons with a bag containing elephant ivories. Three of them took to their heels but the accused Hamadou, burdened with the weight of the ivories could not run.

The appellants brought an appeal against the sentences handed down to them by the Magistrate, for being in possession of a live pangolin in contravention of teh Controlled Wildlife Act. The sentence imposed was 24 months imprisonment of which 12 months were suspended for 5 years on appropriate conditions.

The two accused were convicted of various offences in terms of the Nature Conservation Ordinance 4 of 1975 ranging from illegal hunting of huntable protected and specially protected game (tortoise and oryx) to possession of the said game or their meat. The accused pleaded guilty to certain offences and not guilty to others.

The accused were charged with the unlawful exportation of controlled wildlife products:14 rhino horns on the first count and a leopard skin on the second count, as well as money laundering on count 3.

In the lower court, accused 1 and 2 were convicted of count 1, contravening sections 1,30(1)(b), (30)(1)(c), 85, 89 A of the Nature Conservation Ordinance 4 of 1975 as amended read with ss 90 and 250 of Act 51 of 1977. Accused 5 was convicted of the first alternative to count 1 – Possession of game meat contravening s 51 of Ordinance 4 of 1975.

On the 24 January 2018, elements of the conservation service arrested the accused persons NGEN Etienne, BEKA BEKA and DAMA David in a community-hunting zone in possession of a hunting gun after killing a baby elephant. They extracted the ivories and delivered it to a certain Yaoba, currently under chase.

In 2017, elements of the conservation service of the Nki National park arrested some unidentified individuals in the said park for killing elephants. The other co-offenders escaped successfully with the loot leaving the accused.

On May 2, 2018, the conservation service of the Dja Biosphere Reserve received an information on the fact that an important ivory consignment was about to move from a village through the Oveng road axis.

On the 17 June 2018, elements of the customs service in Lokomo arrested the accused DJOULI MBARGA Florine following a daily checkpoint routine in that zone. The elements stopped a public transportation bus leaving the zone in which the accused was aboard. She was found in possession of a bag containing 4 elephant ivories weighing 1kg each.

In January 2018, military officials of the gendarmerie post of Socambo received reliable information on an ongoing illegal trafficking activity.