Tinto Ape Dealer Arrested

06/02/2012

Tinto Ape Dealer Arrested | Eden | January 2012

An ape dealer has been arrested in Tinto, a locality close to Mamfe in the Manyu Division of the South West Region. He was actively bargaining the prices of  three chimpanzee skulls when officials of the Tinto Forestry and Wildlife Control Post in collaboration with Gendarmes from the Tinto Gendarmerie Brigade, who had information on a possible illegal wildlife trade going on around the area, searched and arrested the dealer.  He is presently behind bars. LAGA, a non governmental organization working in the domain of wildlife law enforcement assisted officials during the operation. Chimpanzees like many other wildlife species including elephants are facing intense poaching and trafficking activities which is deteriorating the population of these animals in the wild. The South African Jane Goodall Institute Chimpanzee Eden reports that the chimpanzee could be getting extinct in as little as 10 years from now on if strong measures are not taken to preempt such a loss.

The arrest of the dealer in parts of chimpanzees comes just days after 4 convicted traffickers were handed what some wildlife law enforcement experts have termed a surprisingly lenient 1-month imprisonment term following a speedy trial by the Yokadouma Court of First Instance in the East Region. The trial came after the arrest, last December, of the 4 ivory traffickers who had concealed 44 elephant tusks weighing over 100 kilogrammes in a truck ferrying cocoa to Douala. It is estimated that 22 elephants were killed to obtain such a huge quantity of ivory.

According to the 1994 wildlife law which is the main instrument of use in pursuing wildlife law defaulters, chimpanzees, gorillas and elephants among others are protected wildlife species and anyone caught in possession of part or whole of a protected species is liable to a prison term which may be up to 3 years and or payment of a fine of up to 10 million francs. This punishment is stipulated in Section 158 of the law. The law, it seems, was created to enable a huge deterrent factor among traffickers, criminal networks and any potential defaulter but as with any law, its application must be commensurate to the spirit of the law. Corruption attempts have been documented in many wildlife cases across the country.

Illegal trade and smuggling is the reason behind the transportation of the 44 ivory tusks from the East Region which is considered the supply zone to Douala and eventually to foreign markets and this can also be said of the skulls of the apes species seized in Tinto. Gorillas, chimpanzees, monkeys and their parts leave the South West Region into neighboring countries where they are used for various purposes including “medicinal uses” or are simply exported overseas. There is a vibrant trade and smuggling ring of illegal wildlife between Cameroon and some of its neighbours. Custom officials recently confiscated confiscated 57 turtles called Western Black mud terrapins in Idenau close to the Cameroon Nigeria border. They were reportedly on their way to the neighbouring country to supply the pet market. Unfortunately, the trafficker was not arrested laying bare the limited value of such operations and the significant influence corruption can have on wildlife law enforcement. The terrapins were transported to the Limbe Wildlife Centre and later released into the wild in the Korup National Park.

This trade is totally against the interests of not only the general public but against a surprisingly small group of people who think the animals should be conserved and protected. These wildlife species are iconic species in many African cultures. The men of arts draw their inspiration from nature to be able to produce works of arts and during the 2012 Yaounde International Arts and Crafts Exhibition, many artists and craftsmen presented images of animals through their carvings and work of art. Elephants, lions and many other wildlife species carved into artifacts using wood and bronze were on display. Such is the huge inspiration that they draw from these animals that many of the stands from the various regions of the country were filled with beautifully carved and painted representations of Africa’s wildlife. 

These men of arts maybe, in the near future, relying only on their memories and photographs to carve and paint what was traditional African wildlife, if law enforcement and conservation efforts are not effectively  intensified to halt the decline in animal populations in the wild.