Politics
Congo Republic Jails Man Accused of Killing 500 Elephants
- Sentence is first criminal conviction of a wildlife trafficker
- Guyvanho was sentenced to 30 years in prison by the court
Photographer: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
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The Republic of Congo imprisoned a well-known poacher for 30 years for the attempted murder of park rangers and the smuggling of elephant tusks, marking the first conviction by a criminal court in that country of a wildlife trafficker.
The poacher, a Congolese national known by the nickname Guyvanho, headed a team that may have killed as many as 500 elephants in the country’s Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park since 2008, the Wildlife Conservation Society said in a statement Monday. Environmental crimes were previously tried in civil courts, with a maximum penalty of five years.