A court in the Republic of Congo has convicted three men of killing elephants for their tusks, and sentenced them to five years in jail as well as fined them the equivalent of $10,000 each, according to a press release from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The men were part of a group of six elephant poachers who reportedly entered the Nouabale-Ndoki National Park on Jan. 13 and were first detected by researchers from the Goualougo Triangle Ape Project working in the south of the national park. Following reports of gunfire, park authorities deployed four ranger teams and intercepted the poachers on Feb. 2. The six poachers, however, managed to escape the ambush, but not before leaving behind 16 tusks weighing a combined 70 kilograms (154 pounds), as well as equipment including an AK-47 rifle, WCS reported. Three days later, park authorities and local police arrested three members of the gang in the nearby town of Pokola. A manhunt for the remaining three members of the poaching gang, including the suspected leader, is ongoing. “We commend the parks rangers of Nouabale-Ndoki in their continuing efforts to protect elephants in one of the last remaining strongholds of the species,” Mark Gately, director of WCS’s Republic of Congo program, said in the statement. “The convictions of three notorious poachers sends a message that such activities will not be tolerated in one of Congo’s flagship protected areas.” Forest elephants. Photo by Richard Ruggiero/USFWS (public domain). The convicted men have reportedly admitted to entering the national park illegally…
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South Africa Today – Environment
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