Yaoundé, Cameroon (25 September 2013) - After one year of trial, the “notorious” Cameroonian poacher Symphorien Sangha was sentenced on Tuesday to three years in jail, for the killing of elephants, ivory trafficking and wounding a lawenforcement officer, the Boumba-et-Ngoko tribunal in the south east of the country announced.

Furthermore, Sangha – known locally as the “notorious” poacher – will have to pay a fine of 22,000,000 FCFA (€33,500). If he is unable to do so, another two years will be added to his sentence.

“This is fantastic news. Justice has finally been served,” said Alain Bernard Ononino, a wildlife crime enforcement expert at WWF Cameroon.

Originally from the Central African Republic but a naturalized Cameroonian citizen, Sangha, who specializes in the killing of elephants for their tusks, has also been accused of serving as a guide to Sudanese poachers, who in 2010 crossed the Central African Republic and massacred elephants for their ivory.

He was arrested in October 2012 in Yokadouma, in the south east of the country, and was charged with killing elephants, ivory trafficking, and shooting an ecoguard in June 2010, causing serious physical injury and incapacity.

”Cameroonian authorities deserve high praise and congratulations for this exemplary decision – a textbook example on how to prosecute wildlife criminals.”

”Now, the same tribunal must insure that Symphorien Sangha’s twin brother, Jean René Sangha, who has confessed to being in possession of ivory tusks and a hunting rifle, also goes to jail.”

For more Information, please download the WWF’s Press Release below :