Strengthening wildlife law enforcement: Eight traffickers sentenced in 2025.

During one the court rulings, three traffickers were found guilty and sentenced to 6 months in prison and ordered to pay 400 000 FCFA as fines. They were arrested with 28 African grey parrots in December 2022. 

There is a new law that is in place that gives up to 20 years in prison to defaulters. Section 173 of the 2024 Wildlife Law states that anyone found guilty of killing, keeping or marketing protected wildlife shall be punished with imprisonment of from 15 to 20 years or a fine of 20,000,000 to 50,000,000 FCFA or with both such imprisonment and fine. This definitely makes the offence a criminal one and therefore the procedures warrant that an examining judge handles the matter. 

Two of such cases, among others, are presenting on the table of examining judges. Three traffickers are facing criminal charges following their arrest last December in Bertoua for illegal possession of 64 African grey parrots, a species that is listed in Class A and therefore totally protected. 

A trafficker was arrested on December 17 in Yaounde while attempting to sell two leopard skins and the case is presently with an examining judge in Yaounde. 

Leopards are totally protected wildlife species. And in both cases if the traffickers are found guilty they could be in prison for up to 20 years. The arrests were carried by the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife, with the technical assistance of LAGA, a wildlife law enforcement support organisation. 

The measures are aimed at quickly bringing down illegal wildlife trade drastically especially as the crimes are taking on new and subtler dimensions; making use of technology and money laundering. The central African sub region is therefore trying to catch up with these developments in wildlife criminality.  

Conservation expects held a meeting in Douala recently to strengthen the application of the wildlife law. The meeting brought together experts from the government and NGO sectors to revise the Central Africa wildlife law enforcement action plan dubbed PAPECALF 2. The action plan seeks to strengthen the application of wildlife laws in the sub region. 

Speaking during the meeting, one of the experts from WWF, Luc Evouna, said: “We believe that the action plan of the COMIFAC member countries for the implementation of the wildlife law requires revision. This revision should address new forms of crime, particularly money laundering linked to wildlife trafficking and cybercrime in the context of wildlife trafficking”. 

It is expected that several major wildlife traffickers will be arrested and face the 20-year jail term as stipulated in the 2024 Wildlife Law. 

The article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3739 of Monday March 23, 2026