A notorious elephant poacher arrested
A notorious elephant poacher responsible for killing countless elephants in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) Katanga province has been arrested and sent to a military court for trial.
This man is believed to have commanded poaching gangs and personally killed more than 20 elephants in the besieged region in the past few years, was arrested after months of serious observation and surveys by rangers from the Upemba and Kundelungu National Parks.
Elephant populations in Katanga and the wider DRC have been in serious decline from poaching for more than a decade. The struggling elephant populations that remained in the DRC area suffering the continued presence of rebels and highly organized poaching gangs.
The suspects’ arrest was announced on January 23 by the parks’ management, Forgotten Parks Foundation, and the Elephant Crisis Fund – an organization that supports the Foundation by funding anti-poaching efforts in the region. This has brought fresh hope that park authorities are starting to gain the upper hand over ivory poachers and traffickers.
He stands accused of having killed six elephants in 2017, including two pregnant females, after opening fire on a herd of 90 elephants a Mulenda in the Territory of Manono.
One of the heavily pregnant females was initially fatally shot, and another died of her injuries on the banks of the Congo River near the village of Kakombo four months later. Last month this man is said to have is thought to have killed five hippos. Both species are protected by law.
More than 20 elephants are believed to have been killed by this man over the past few years, and many more elephants are thought to have died at the hands of a gang of poachers operating under his command. One poacher who was arrested earlier during the course of the investigations claimed to have killed more than 30 elephants under the orders of this very individual.
He will be tried in Kamina. If found guilty of the charges brought against him, he will be transferred to the Central Prison of Makala in Kinshasa to serve as an example to others.
However, on your Uganda gorilla safaris/ Uganda gorilla safari tour /Gorilla trekking in Uganda Bwindi impenetrable forest and Gorilla trekking in Rwanda, you will find out that most national parks in these countries are being threatened by poachers. But action is being taken to calm the problem.
A notorious elephant poacher arrested-Uganda safari/ Uganda safari tour news
