Zambian court jails two men five years for possessing live pangolin
Mongu Subordinate Court convicted Anthony Musole Musole and Oscar Nyundu after an officer posing as a buyer set up their arrest.
Two men, Anthony Musole Musole and Oscar Nyundu, were sentenced to five years in prison with hard labor after pleading guilty to unlawful possession of a live pangolin in Zambia, prosecutors said.
The pair pleaded guilty in the Mongu Subordinate Court to unlawful possession of a protected animal under Section 130(1) of the Zambia Wildlife Act No. 14 of 2015, the National Prosecution Authority's Mongu Office said. Officers from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife acted on a tip from members of the public, and an officer posing as a buyer arranged a meeting.
On October 28, the two were arrested at the meeting point in Mongu after a sack carried by one of them was found to contain the animal. Neither man could produce a certificate authorizing its possession, and an examination found the pangolin weighed 12 kilograms and was valued at more than 23,438 kwacha.
Why it mattersAnyone in Zambia who keeps or trades a protected animal without a permit now faces a five-year prison term with hard labor.