News
8 Ivory traffickers including an army officer arrested with 4 tusks.
Uganda, 12 Sep 20178 Ivory traffickers including an army officer arrested in Western Uganda. They were arrested with 4 tusks, weighing 20.5 kg.
2 traffickers arrested with a baby mandrill
Cameroon, 12 Sep 20172 traffickers arrested with a baby mandrill and 40 kg of pangolin scales! Serge and the rest of the LAGA team and the Cameroon authorities in good action in Yaounde. The baby mandrill will be given care by Ape Action Africa.
3 traffickers arrested with 45kg Ivory
Uganda, 11 Sep 20173 traffickers arrested with 45kg Ivory in northern Uganda including the imam of the town's mosque. The imam is from South Sudan and uses his links for cross border trafficking. Religious authorities feature often in our operations especially this year exposing the cover of crime and greed behind the fake appearance of morality. Good work of Abel and Lenard with the Ugandan authorities as they travel overnight for more action.
2 traffickers arrested with 3 okapi skins
Uganda, 9 Sep 20172 traffickers arrested with 3 okapi skins! Abel led the action in West Nile area with the Ugandan authorities. This is the second time the Ugandan team exposed a previously unknown International trade in Okapi skins. The Okapi, often called "forest giraffe" is an endangered relative of the giraffe that can be found only in Ituri forest in DRC. This giant animal is one of the oldest surviving mammals on earth. The stripes it has on its behind helps in camouflage as it looks like streaks of sunlight filtering through the trees. These stripes are unique to each individual and used for identification so you can say his ID is on his butt. The traffickers confessed to have traded other okapi skins in the past highlighting once again the illegal trade in such an endangered animal.
2 wildlife traffickers arrested with two leopard skins
Gabon, 9 Sep 20172 wildlife traffickers arrested with two leopard skins outside of Libreville. Good work of Conservation Justice with the Gabonese authorities.
A baby chimp rescued and ape trafficker arrested
Cameroon, 9 Sep 2017A baby chimp rescued and ape trafficker arrested! Serge, Aime and Loveline worked with the Cameroon authorities on this complicated operation in the south of the country. The orphaned baby chimp looks strong and will spend the night with Loveline before heading to Ape Action Africa for lifetime care. This is the second chimp baby rescue of LAGA in a short period of time.
2 traffickers arrested with 127 hippo teeth
Uganda, 5 Sep 20172 traffickers arrested with 127 hippo teeth (56kg) in western Uganda. This seizure represents the slaughter of least 15 hippos. Good work of Abel, Lenard and the rest of Vincent's NRCN team.
2 ivory traffickers arrested with 4 tusks
Uganda, 30 Aug 20172 ivory traffickers arrested in Kampala with 4 tusks. They were intercepted on the road when transporting the ivory to the place of transaction.
A trafficker arrested with a leopard skin
Guinea, 29 Aug 2017A trafficker arrested with a leopard skin and two crocodile skins in Conakry. He was intercepted in a car park, attempting to sell the skins. He has been dealing with cow and sheep skins, using this to cover his illegal business with skins of protected animals, which he was trafficking regularly.
An ivory trafficker arrested with 2 large fresh elephant tusks
Gabon, 29 Aug 2017An ivory trafficker, a repeat offender, arrested with 2 large fresh elephant tusks in Franceville as he attempted to sell the contraband in a courtyard of a hotel. He was previously arrested for ivory trafficking in 2014, while carrying 4 tusks on a train to the capital city, and he spent 6 months in prison. This case points to the necessity of stronger deterring sentences in Gabon, as the current maximum penalty is one of the weakest in Africa.
2 ivory traffickers arrested with 8 tusks
Congo, 29 Aug 20172 ivory traffickers arrested with 8 tusks, cut to 21 pieces and a corruption attempt towards the gendarmerie was combated. They were arrested in an attempt to sell the ivory, concealed in a suitcase. They are well-known repeat offenders, connected to corrupt authorities in the region, and often trafficking ivory across the border from Gabon. One of them, an owner of a hotel, is in the centre of several trafficking rings, well connected to a network of traffickers. The other one has been transporting the ivory to the place of transaction. They were already arrested for ivory trafficking, but were released illegally by the Pointe-Noire court. Now they remain behind bars, awaiting trial.
A baby chimp rescued and a wildlife trafficker arrested
Cameroon, 29 Aug 2017A baby chimp rescued and a wildlife trafficker arrested in the south of the country at a police checkpoint when he trafficked the animal concealed in a handbag placed inside a large plastic sack. He was also trafficking 35 kg of pangolin scales. He has been trafficking several protected species, including primates, and pangolin scales which he was getting from an organized ring of poachers in the area, across the border in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. A taxi carrying the LAGA coordinator of the operation that was on surveillance of the trafficker got into a serious accident just before the arrest. Exemplifying the EAGLE spirit, from the broken vehicle and his head covered in blood, Serge Ania’s words to the team were - "Arrest him for me!". He is recovering after hospital treatment. The one-month-old orphaned baby chimpanzee was found in a state of trauma and malnourished and immediately rushed to the Mefou National Park, where caregivers of the Ape Action Africa quickly provided the appropriate treatment and care.
