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A Chinese National, Zhuan Zide, has been arrested by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DPNW) and the Zambia Police Service for illegal possession of a Pangolin in Kasumbalesa District on the Copperbelt.
Working on a tip off from concerned members of the public, DNPW and Zambia Police officers arrested Zide at a warehouse in Kasumbalesa, according to a statement issued in Lusaka on Tuesday.
The 49-year-old man was found in possession of one live tree pangolin, weighing 2kg during a search of CK warehouse, where he was residing, reads the statement.
The Department said the man, a machine technician by profession, was believed to have kept the Pangolin, whose final destination was China, in a soundbox for two days.
“He was charged with one count of illegal possession of a protected animal contrary to the laws of Zambia,” it said.
It noted that Zhuan appeared before Judge Temwaninge M’hango at Kalulushi Magistrate court on September 25, 2023 and pleaded not guilty to the charge.
The trial has been set for September 29, 2023.
Read More: Two men sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for illicit trade in pangolin
“Pangolin scales are wrongly thought to have medicinal value and are used in traditional Chinese medicine as a result, wild pangolins are almost extinct in Asia, putting pressure on African pangolins, which are illegally captured and trafficked to meet the black-market demand in China and other Asian countries,” the Department said.
The report added that pangolin scales are composed of keratin, the same protein found in human fingernails and in Zambia, they are listed as protected, a status given to animals that are either endemic, threatened and or under strict regulatory control in order to secure their survival.
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