110 captured African grey parrots released

Rangers in Eastern Cameroon have rescued and released 110 African grey parrots from a trafficker south of Lobeke National Park.

The rangers seized the parrots from a certain Mussa Hallilu during an operation on December 4, 2017. Hallilu, now in custody, caged the birds for over three months seeking means to smuggle them out of the area to potential buyers. He reportedly contacted a ranger to help him in the operation.  Rangers later arrested Hallilu in the village of Socambo on Cameroon borders with the Republic of Congo. Lobeke conservation service released the parrots back into the wild on December 6. This is the second time in less than one month that police and rangers have seized parrots from traffickers. On November 23, police in the city of Douala seized 124 parrot heads from three traffickers. Hallilu faces up to three years in prison and FCFA 10 million (circa US $ 20000) as fine for illegal capture of parrots.

“I wish to hail rangers for seizing and releasing the parrots. We are sparing no effort in curbing poaching and bringing wildlife criminals to justice,” says Achile Mengamenya, Conservator of Lobeke National Park.

African grey still see red
 This amazing talking bird used to be captured as pet upon issuance of a Cameroon government permit. However, recent upsurge in illegal trade and the decapitation of the birds for rituals prompted Cameroon Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife to raise the grey parrot to Class A (totally protected) species in 2017.
An estimated 100000 African grey parrots live in the southeast of Cameroon, especially in Lobeke National Park.  However, conservationists fear incessant capture and decapitation of the bird is leading to decline in its population.

In 2015, a law court in eastern Cameroon sentenced a notorious and recidivist parrot poacher Roger Atangana and two of his accomplices to three-year jail terms and a huge fine. “There was a sense of respite after that court verdict,” says Djibrila Hessana, WWF Program Manager for Lobeke. “This latest seizure calls for more vigilance. We trust the court will hand down a severe sentence on the trafficker,” he states.

Lobeke is a part of Sangha Tri-National (TNS) transboundary Conservation landscape involving protected areas in Central African Republic, (Dzanga-Ndoki ) and Republic of Congo (Nouabale Ndoki). On September 3, 2012, UNESCO declared TNS a World Heritage Site.