Two ivory traffickers have been arrested in the Dja Faunal Reserve by wildlife officials. The two men who are aged 35 and 21 were arrested in possession of two ivory tusks deep inside the Dja Faunal Reserve which is a totally protected area and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The operation that led to their arrest was carried with the collaboration of the Lomie Gendarmerie brigade, in the East Region of Cameroon and a wildlife law enforcement body called LAGA is assisting wildlife officials in establishing a case file against the two who risk up to 3 years in prison and or a fine of up to 10 million francs according to the wildlife law of 1994.

The arrests came just a few hours to the first hearing by the Yaounde Centre Administrative Court of First Instance in the trial against two other ivory traffickers arrested in Bastos Yaounde by wildlife officials last March 2, 2013 by the police, working in collaboration with wildlife officials of the Centre Regional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife. According to specialists in the field of wildlife law enforcement, the two men are said to be big time ivory traffickers whose activities span Cameroon, Congo and even beyond.

They are presently behind bars waiting for the next hearing of the case that comes up on May 30, 2013 in the same court. Some of the ivory recovered from the traffickers was thoroughly buried in the ground and the traffickers claim to have even bigger quantities stacked away. Investigations are currently going on to dismantle this ring of traffickers who skillfully transport ivory from Congo to Cameroon.

According to the Chief of Control Brigade at the Centre Regional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife, Benjamin Zambo “We should understand that we are in a global village and Cameroon is like a crossroad in the CEMAC zone. They are roads that link Cameroon with the other neighbouring countries, and with the opening of the road from Sangmelima to Congo, poachers have also found easy means to ferry ivory that they obtain from these countries.”

It should be noted that ivory that is seized from traffickers in these areas are mostly from Africa forest elephants that have witnessed a population decrease of 62% across Central Africa over the last 10 years as a recent study shows. According to researchers from Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and several other conservation organisations that undertook the study published in the scientific journal PLoS One, some reasons for this situation include the rapid increase in the price of ivory in China, the persistent lack of effective governance in Central Africa and the proliferation of unprotected roads that ease access to hunters.