Maputo, 18 Sep (AIM) – Mozambique’s National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC) has arrested three individuals in Nicoadala district, in the central province of Zambezia, for attempting to sell a pangolin.
The pangolin (sometimes known as the scaly anteater) is one of the species most under threat from poaching in Mozambique.
According to the SERNIC spokesperson in Zambézia, Maximino Amílcar, the individuals were arrested in Nicoadala when they were trying to sell the animal for 100,000 meticais (about 1.500 dollars at the current exchange rate).
“This is the second time this year that the authorities have caught individuals trying to sell pangolins. When we recovered the animal, we handed it over to the authorities so that it could be treated and protected. There is a specific law that protects pangolins, since they are an endangered species”, he said, cited by Radio Mozambique.
In Tambara district, in the central province of Manica, two people have died in attacks by wild animals. According to Rafael Manjate, director of Land and Environment in Manica, cited by the independent paper “O País”, “We’ve had two deaths, one caused by an elephant attack in Tambara. A seriously wounded person was also hospitalized in the Chimoio Provincial Hospital”.
Manjate added there was also the case of a child who was attacked by a crocodile and lost his life.
According to Manjate, such attacks are caused by lack of food and water for the animals as a result of the El Niño weather phenomenon that has caused severe drought in the region.
“Animals are migrating in search of food and water and the population is doing the same. It’s at this time that we see cases of attacks”, he claimed.
It is, however, absurd to blame El Nino for the natural behavior of an apex predator, such as a crocodile.
(AIM)
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