Rwanda National Police

Police in Nyabihu District have arrested a man suspected of belonging to a gang of poachers.

The suspect, Emmanuel Maniriho, was arrested on Saturday in possession of a leopard skin. Police based on reliable information about poaching which aided preliminary investigations into poaching cases.

The Western Province Police spokesperson, Inspector of Police (IP) Théobard Kanamugire, said investigations are on to find out which game park the animal had been killed from.

Maniriho confessed to being part of a group of poachers, claiming that he had been told that there are clients in neighboring countries willing to offer a lot of money for rare animal skins.

“The capture and jailing of suspected poachers indicates how serious the Police is about tackling wildlife crime and how determined we are to ensure that poachers pay for their crimes,” IP Kanamugire said.

“We call upon residents living near game parks to desist from collaborating with poachers, but work with law enforcers to protect animals. We also call upon game rangers to be vigilant against environment crimes and work with the Police to overcome the illegal acts of poachers.”

 He added that: “By working together, we show poachers and wildlife traffickers that they can run but they cannot hide.”

Although poaching still remains a threat to wild life in Rwanda, there are strong efforts between the Police, Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) and Rwanda Development Board (RDB), among other entities, to curb the vice and protect Rwanda’s wild species, Kanamugire noted.

Recently, through this partnership, a group of 120 park rangers completed an intense two-months training aimed at equipping them with skills and knowledge to provide ample security to Rwanda’s national parks and natural resources.

Poaching is criminalized by the penal code which stipulates in its article 416 that any person who illegally kills animals in classified forests, protected areas and national parks, shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of six months to two years and a fine of Rwf3 million to two million Rwf2 million, or one of the penalties.

Article 417 condemns poaching gorillas or other endangered animal species with imprisonment of five to ten years and a fine of Rwf500,000 to Rwf5 million.

The Akagera National Park in the Eastern Province is considered as one of the parks with abundant wildlife including gorillas, giraffe, leopard, hyena, bush buck, and the recently introduced lions.