Fw: primfocus: Jail for Cameroon chimp trafficker

[Guest guest]

Well, it's about time ... one small step for chimps ... hopefully the start

of a giant leap for chimps and their brethren!

 

I met chimp, Kita, at Limbe in May 2003 and she just broke my heart - she

was so tiny with those huge brown eyes seemingly searching for reasons she

found herself in a cage, instead of living free with her mother and family

....

 

Jane Dewar

 

-

" Jessica Ganas " <ganas

" Primfocus " <primfocus

Thursday, July 24, 2003 7:30 AM

primfocus: Jail for Cameroon chimp trafficker

 

 

> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3091315.stm

>

> A 40-year-old man has become the first Cameroonian to be sentenced for

> trying to sell a female baby chimpanzee, nine years after a law

> prohibiting trade in endangered animals was passed.

>

> Tonye Nkeng was sentenced to one month imprisonment and was ordered to

> pay a fine of 500,000 CFA francs ($1,000).

>

> He was arrested about five months ago when he tried to sell the female

> baby chimpanzee named Kita to a dealer.

>

> Kita is now living in a safe haven at the Limbe wildlife centre in

> south-western Cameroon.

>

> The verdict will not have any impact on the sale and consumption of bush

> meat, even if they sentence everyone in Cameroon

> Cameroonian housewife

>

> " This is what I wanted and this is what I got. I am very happy, "

> Francois Ntolo Tsinya, the lawyer for the Ministry of the environment

> and forests said after the sentencing.

>

> She said she had not been sure she would even get a conviction, let

> alone a prison term, because poaching of wildlife is a very common crime

> in Cameroon.

>

> 'Strong signal'

>

> This is due to the flourishing bush meat trade.

>

> " This will send a strong signal to people that they cannot just eat any

> type of animal, anytime, " said Ms Tsinya.

>

> Map of Cameroon

>

> However, a defiant housewife that I met after the verdict said she was

> shocked by the sentencing.

>

> " The verdict will not have any impact on the sale and consumption of

> bush meat, even if they sentence everyone in Cameroon " .

>

> " It is our tradition, our grandparents ate bush meat and we will

> continue eating bush meat, " said the housewife.

>

> The sprawling bush-meat markets that operated in Yaounde have been

> closed after police started arresting dealers.

>

> But a flourishing illegal trade in endangered animals continues in the

> country.

>

> Informers

>

> The convict was charged following intelligence provided by an animal

> rights organisation known as The Last Great Ape (LAGA).

>

> LAGA's Israeli-born director, Ofir Drori, said he was " elated " by the

> verdict.

>

> He risks his life everyday using a sophisticated web of informers and

> equipment to track down wildlife poachers.

>

> Cameroon is home to hundreds of endangered animals, including

> chimpanzees, gorillas, lions and elephants.

>

> They are however being killed at an alarming rate to satisfy the huge

> national and international market for bush meat and animal skin.

>

> A 1994 law prevents people from trading in endangered animals but it has

> taken nine long years for the first person to be sentenced under that law.

> --

> -----------------

> Jessica Ganas

> Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

> Department of Primatology

> Deutscher Platz 6

> D-04103 Leipzig

> Germany

> phone: +49 (0) 341 35 50 227

> fax: +49 (0) 341 35 50 299

> e-mail: ganas

>

> Laboratory Primate Advocacy Group

> http://www.lpag.org

>

> http://www.eva.mpg.de/primat/

>

>