Blogging About Critters Since 2007

Monday, August 25, 2008

Congo Officer Arrested for Baby Chimp Sales

No wonder wildlife trafficking is such a problem. Even members of the army are involved.

In this case, someone confused a baby chimp with a baby gorilla.

ICCN (Congolese Wildlife Authority) rangers received a tip-off that someone in Goma was trying to sell a baby gorilla. The rangers set up a sting operation, where one of them posed as a foreigner interested in buying the gorilla. They had a team of ICCN Rangers on standby to make arrests....

Following the arrests, it has emerged that the man who owned the house is a Major in the Congolese army. It was not a surprise that Major "X" (can't be named for legal reasons) was involved in the trade of baby chimps. He has been implicated in poaching incidents in Rwindi and more importantly there is strong evidence that he is a ringleader in the illegal charcoal trade.

I can't even imagine what happened to the baby chimp's mother.

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