Zambia nabs 19 people over wildlife offenses

Zambia has arrested 19 suspects for various wildlife offenses following operations conducted last week, the country's wildlife agency said on Tuesday.

The operations resulted in the confiscation of a pair of hippo teeth, two leopard skins, 1.5 kilograms of grysbok meat, three kilograms of hippo meat, and 3.5 kilograms of common duiker meat, according to the National Parks and Wildlife Department.

The operations, conducted in various parts of the country, also saw the confiscation of six muzzle loading guns, two shotguns and five wire snares, it added.

According to the wildlife agency, investigations have revealed that poaching was still on the increase, adding that a lot of big cat skins were being recovered because the poachers were using food poisoning to kill the big cats. Endit