Uganda Police have arrested three people in connection with a killer gun that killed an elephant in Anaka village Nwoya District in Northern Uganda.
The identified suspects include Ayella Bob, Okello Eric and Otema Justin all residents of Anaka village who were found with ivory looking for market.
Speaking to Natural Resource Conservation Network, the trio admitted finding a dead elephant where they obtained Ivory.
Elephants are one of the original ‘Big Five’ game animals that attract tourists from around the world to come to Uganda.
According to Natural Resource Conservation Network, the killing of the elephants is a setback to both conservation and tourism gains. Although around the world, elephants are under threat with an increased Ivory Trafficking with the agency estimating that show that elephant population have decreased by 62% over the last decade.
Reports reveal that legal ivory market fuels ivory smuggling and elephant poaching. It is estimated that, half a dozen elephants are killed every year by ivory hunters from the national parks like Queen Elizabeth national park, murchsion, Bwindi among others in Uganda.
According to Nwoya police, Mr. Ayella and his friends are going to be kept in police custody as investigations go on to find out the killer gun .
According to a one Otema, they were going to sell at 300,000 Uganda shillings each kilogram amounting to 27 Kilograms. The poachers target ivory whose demand has increased on both local and international markets.
Last week following an operation executed by National Resource Conservation Network (NRCN) team and police being witnessed by the UWA intelligence officer two suspect was arrested trying to sell Ivory amounting to 10.5kgs at Gwalla village Karuma on 12th January 2017.
