Four Men Nabbed For Possessing Live Pangolin Worth US$5,000

Three men from Filabusi and another from Victoria Falls have appeared in court for allegedly possessing a live pangolin worth US$5,000.

Mayibongwe Ndlovu (27), Prince Sibanda (36), John Wax (25) and Brighton Moyo (24) appeared before Bulawayo regional magistrate Mark Dzira, charged with contravening the Parks and Wildlife Act, which prohibits the capture, possession, or trade of specially protected animals.

Sibanda pleaded guilty, taking responsibility for the offence, while his co-accused denied the charge. All four were remanded in custody.

Prosecutors said detectives from the CID Minerals, Flora and Fauna Unit received a tip-off on October 22 that the group had a live pangolin in Filabusi and were looking for a buyer. Officers posing as potential customers arranged to meet Sibanda in Bulawayo.

At the meeting, Sibanda arrived with Ndlovu, Wax and Moyo, who allegedly produced a sack containing the pangolin but failed to present a valid permit.

The detectives immediately arrested them, although Moyo briefly escaped before being caught later the same day in Filabusi.

The pangolin was handed to the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZIMPARKS), where an ecologist confirmed it was a live Temminck’s Ground Pangolin — a species strictly protected under Zimbabwean law.

The ecologist’s report has been tendered in court as evidence.

More: NewsDay

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