Poachers jailed for six months in Yambio county

May 6, 2016 (YAMBIO) – A county court in Yambio has sentenced five poachers to six months in prison for killing animals in Burekpatuo game reserve located in Nzara county.

The state director of wildlife and game conservation, Johnathan Nyari said those killing animals had finally been apprehended and all their weapons confiscated.

He stressed that killing of animals in game reserves was an offence without any authorisation from wildlife office and that no one must kill animals or enter the reserves.

Despite laws the existence of law currently protecting animals in South Sudan, poaching is still rampant in the world’s youngest nation, yet fewer poachers are taken to court to face the law.

As such, this was the first time poachers were being sentenced in Yambio county.

A hunter who spoke on condition of anonymity said he was unhappy over the sentencing of the five poachers, since people in the region depend on wild animals for survival.

(ST).