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Originally shared by Environmental Investigation Agency

The trafficking of great ape body parts in Cameroon for 'magic' poses a major new threat

Yaounde, Cameroon - For years, traffickers fuelled the slaughter of gorillas and chimpanzees in Cameroon's rainforests to meet demand for bush meat - an activity conservationists feared could wipe out the great apes in the wild in a few decades.

But now they fear a far worse scenario is taking place.

A previously unknown trade in ape heads, bones and limbs - rather than full bodies for meat - is encouraging poachers to kill more animals than previously done, and wildlife law enforcement officials say it is speeding up population decline.

"We may be looking at something that is developing down the road of ivory trafficking," said Eric Kaba Tah, deputy director of the Last Great Ape Organisation (LAGA), a non-profit wildlife law enforcement body based in Cameroon's capital, Yaounde ...

In the past four months alone, game rangers and security forces have arrested some 22 ape traffickers with a total booty of 34 chimp skulls and fresh heads, 24 gorilla skulls and heads, and 16 ape limbs, according to LAGA. Others have been arrested with jaw bones and other parts.

"If the situation continues, great apes may no longer be around in 10 to 15 years," Tah said.

It is still unclear what is driving the demand for ape parts. However, wildlife officials and anti-poaching campaigners say they have found a connection between the illegal trade and Nigerian communities inside Cameroon and across the border.

"We think ape products are being used for mystical practices," said an official at the ministry of forestry and wildlife, who did not want to be identified because he was not authorised to speak to the press.

Full story at http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/01/trafficking-great-ape-body-parts-cameroon-2015148945815121.html

#apes #Cameroon

Image: A fetish seller in Cameroon displays snakeskins, gorilla skulls and an elephant jaw (c) Karl Ammann