The trade in primate species is getting to a critical stage on the continent today due to the new momentum coming in from a different kind of traffickers, with a growing trend in the trafficking of primates with live species increasingly being traded.
These new traffickers are specifically out for live primate species to supply the growing pet trade in wild species for personal use and for zoos.
In the past, primates were mostly targeted for their meat but the dynamics are gradually changing.
Each year, operations carried out within the framework of the convention launched by the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife to track and prosecute wildlife law offenders, result in the seizure of many live primates.
When these animals are seized in the country they are generally taken to the Limbe Wildlife Centre, the Mvogbetsi Zoo or to the Mefou National Park, where they are offered appropriate treatment and medical care.
Last year, Wildlife officials stepped up operations to scale down the trafficking of primates during the busy end of year period that generally witnesses a rise in many activities including illegal trade.
A woman was arrested in Yaounde trading in a pair of gorilla hands and feet, reported officials from the National Control Brigade in the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife.
The Wildlife officials were operating in collaboration with the 10th Police District in Yaounde within the framework of the wildlife law enforcement programme launched in 2003 by government to stem trafficking in protected animal species.
A separate swoop by the Nde Divisional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife in Nde Division, West Region, netted a retired gendarme and one other person in Tonga.
The duo was found in illegal possession of protected species including a drill, an Agile Mangabey and a chimpanzee.
The operations were done with the technical assistance of The Last Great Ape Organisation – LAGA.
The three live primates that were seized from the hands of traffickers in Tonga are presently receiving treatment and medical care in the Mvogbetsi Zoo in Yaounde.
Cameroon is constantly at the forefront of efforts to protect wildlife species including primates and specifically the great apes.
In the line of protecting great apes, Cameroon was present during the Second Council Meeting of the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) that took place in Paris, November 2012 alongside 150 other participants.
During the meeting that deliberated on formulating next steps for GRASP and identifying top priorities for the period 2013 to 2016, wildlife law enforcement was placed top on the agenda as a necessary prelude to protecting great apes.
States which are members of GRASP reiterated their engagement to intensify wildlife law enforcement and to work towards its effective implementation during the upcoming years. GRASP is a UNESCO/UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) partner that comprises 80 countries including Cameroon that is an active member, and other great ape range states that seeks to avert the eminent extinction of great apes.
The second council meeting of GRASP was held under the coordination of UNESCO and UNEP.
International meetings of this nature are of great momentum to the process of law enforcement and the government of Cameroon is taking law enforcement seriously as witnessed by the operations carried out in the West Region.
In recent years, the trafficking of Africa’s primates has equally evolved into a highly organised criminal activity, but the situation has remained largely ignored.
Increasing enforcement of laws around the continent has played an important role in uncovering and reporting what may turn out to be the last blow as far as primate conservation is concerned – that is the professionalism of traffickers.
Every African country has suffered from trafficking in primate species and some of the trafficking is carried out by those who protect their own species in their respective countries.
Increasing profit margins for ape traffickers is boosting the trade and attracting all sorts of people, including big time criminal syndicates who are generally after live apes, doing big business and earning huge profits.
The illegal trade in primates is shifting its momentum from simple bush meat trade, involving locals only, to major transnational activity attracting professionals.
This is drawing a different kind of approach from some governments. The government of Cameroon, for example, is stepping up measures to fight transnational crimes as the military has been engaged to protect the country from such crimes.
This has prompted the international community to welcome such a move and the Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassies, Greg Thorne, declares that “The United States applauds Cameroon’s announced efforts to combat and eliminate poaching. These efforts, once launched, will have numerous positive benefits, including preservation of natural patrimony, strengthening of law enforcement and border security, and reduction in crime.”
