Animal protectionists tighten screws on pangolin hunters

TWELVE pangolin poachers have been arrested over the past three months with eight of them already serving mandatory nine-year jail terms as the animal conservationists tighten their screws on the hunting of endangered species.

Adapted from the Newsday.co.zw

In a statement  the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) said most of the poachers were nabbed in Harare, Nyamapanda, Guruve and Kwekwe.

“There is still one outstanding case involving three poachers all of whom have been denied bail since their arrest in January 2015 and are currently awaiting trial. By comparison, for the same time frame in 2014 (January-March), there were two pangolin cases involving four poachers who were sentenced to nine years in jail,” Zimparks said.

pangolin helpless in the paws of a lion

“All authorities, and these include the judiciary, Zimbabwe Republic Police, Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority and the traditional leadership, who are involved with the justice system here in Zimbabwe have come together, recognizing how severe the threat of illegal wildlife poaching is together with the ever-increasing demand on our pangolin.”

 Illegal possession of a pangolin attracts a $5 000 fine and/or a nine-year mandatory prison term. In Zimbabwe, a pangolin was placed on the specially protected list in 1975.

There are eight pangolin species in the whole world, four of which are in Africa and the other four in Asia, but of late, Africa has become the new hunting grounds for the pangolin as the Asian species were teetering on the verge of extinction. People should join in the fight and expose who soever is hunting these animals because one thing for sure is that the law enforcers can not do that on their own that way we UP the green.

the golden pangolin in the plains.