2 Vietnamese charged for possession of wildlife trophies

Two Vietnamese were on Thursday charged in a Nairobi court with being unlawfully in possession of wildlife trophies.

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officer Didi Wamukoya told the court that Nguyen Van Hai and Ngo Hong Kuan were arrested at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Departures wing preparing to board a flight to Bangkok in India with the items.

Travel documents produced by Wamukoya show that the two were traveling from Rwanda.

Kuan was charged in possession of ivory pedants, one warthog ivory and two leopard claws weighing 0.03 kg all valued at 73 U.S. dollars while Hai was accused of possessing a worked elephant ivory and necklace valued at 12 dollars.

The duo pleaded guilty before Acting Principal Magistrate Eunice Nyutu. Through an interpreter the accused said that they did not intend to trade the items.

The acting principal however released them on 11,630 dollars cash bail pending hearing of the matter on April 17

The African elephant and the rhinoceros, listed as threatened and endangered species by law, have been the most poached and illegally traded due to the value attached to their products.

Poachers target especially rhinos and elephants for their tusks and skins, which fetch a lot of money in the black market particularly in Asia.