Two arrested, 9 guns seized as rangers intensify anti-poaching fight

Rangers of Lobeke National Park in eastern Cameroon have arrested two suspect poachers during an anti-poaching operation carried out in September.  Wildlife authorities have transferred the two to face trial in Yokadouma, chief town of the Boumba and Ngoko Division.

The operation also resulted in the seizure of 9 guns (including a war gun) and 323 ammunitions, with over 200 being war ammunitions. The rangers also dismantled over 1000 wire snares placed at various points in the park. Lobeke conservation service is also searching for a man believed to be chief sponsor and other accomplices.
The arrest and seizure come at a time rangers of the biodiversity rich park have stepped up the war against poaching and arms trafficking in the area. In spite of the sustained war against wildlife criminality in East Cameroon, elephant poaching is persisting.

“Through this arrest and seizure of weapons, we have weakened the poachers’ ability to operate thereby saving many elephants from being killed. Our target is to lay hands on their sponsors and also track down other accomplices,” states Achile Mengamenya, Conservator of Lobeke.

Situated on the frontiers with the Central African Republic and the Republic of Congo, Lobeke National Park faces multiple attacks by organised poaching gangs who use the porous borders of the three countries to wreak havoc on the park.

 Wildlife censuses carried out by WWF and partners in four Central African countries have revealed that forest elephant populations have declined by approximately 66 per cent over eight years with Lobeke heavily affected.
 According to Cameroon's wildlife law, any person found, at any time or any place, in possession of part of a protected animal including elephant tusks shall be considered to have killed the animal. The maximum penalties for the killing of a protected animal like an elephant are three years’ imprisonment and/or ten million francs CFA (USD 20000) fine. 

WWF provides technical and material support to the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife (MINFOF) in the fight against poaching.