Summary:
-
In Ugandan history, the worst punishment for this kind of crime was life in prison, which was given to an ivory trader.
-
In 2019, a new law was passed that made it more dangerous to trade or kill endangered species.
-
In January of this year, Pascal Ochiba was detained with two pieces of ivory that weighed almost 10 kg (22 lb) together.
-
The magistrate ruled that Ochiba should spend the rest of his life in prison due to his history of crimes against wildlife.
-
Ochiba had already been imprisoned in 2017 after being found in possession of four pieces of ivory and the skin of an Okapi.
In Ugandan history, the worst punishment for this kind of crime was life in prison, which was given to an ivory trader.
In 2019, a new law was passed that makes it more dangerous to trade or kill endangered species.
In January of this year, Pascal Ochiba was detained with two pieces of ivory that weighed almost 10 kg (22 lb) together.
The magistrate ruled that Ochiba should spend the rest of his life in prison due to his history of crimes against wildlife.
According to a statement from the Uganda Wildlife Authority, Gladys Kamasanyu, the chief magistrate of the country’s special wildlife court, said that “offenses of illegal possession of protected species are common and need to be stopped” (UWA).
“This is a significant victory in the fight against Uganda’s illegal wildlife trade.” “If we don’t conserve our wildlife in this generation, history will be hard on us,” Sam Mwandha, the executive director of UWA, stated.
The hunter who murdered Rafiki, a silverback gorilla, was given an 11-year term in 2020.
Two guys were each given an eight-year prison term in September of this year for the murder of six endangered tree-climbing lions.
In Uganda, only slightly more than 7,900 elephants live in the wild, including forest and savannah elephants.
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature says that forest elephants are critically endangered and savannah elephants are endangered.
Since the 1990s, the nation’s elephant population has increased. Mammals are still at risk from trafficking and poaching, though.
Ochiba had already been imprisoned in 2017 after being found in possession of four pieces of ivory and the skin of an Okapi.
The endangered Okapi, which looks like a zebra, lives only in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is next door.
Analysis by: Advocacy Unified Network
