Sunday, September 22, 2024 at 9:38 p.m.
Rabat – As the new hunting season approaches, the National Agency for Water and Forests (ANEF) says it is redoubling its efforts to eradicate the scourge of poaching, stressing that it has put in place a reinforced control system, thus demonstrating its determination to protect Moroccan wildlife and to pursue offenders with the greatest rigor to deal with the resurgence of illegal hunting in several regions of the Kingdom.
In a press release, ANEF indicates that several serious violations of hunting and wildlife legislation were noted from September 12 to 22 in different regions, which demonstrates the scale of this phenomenon.
Thus, in Safi, a poacher was caught red-handed hunting during the closed season, on September 12 in the Youssoufia area, the agency specifies, noting that during the intervention of forest agents, a prohibited hunting weapon was seized and a report was drawn up.
In Taounate, two separate offences were reported on 19 September in the Moyen Ourgha forest, when a road check led to the interception of two individuals in possession of 9 partridges and 7 wood pigeons, captured during the closed season using illegal means. In another case, on private land in a hunting lease in Tafrante, a poacher using a Slougui dog attacked forest officers after being caught in the act of infraction, the statement continued, indicating that the dog had been seized and that the investigation was ongoing.
Similarly, an illegal hunt in a permanent reserve using prohibited means was also reported in Zaio (Oriental region) on September 21. A wood pigeon was illegally captured, and the weapon used was seized.
In Taroudant (Souss-Massa), an offence of hunting and possession of a Cuvier’s gazelle, a protected species, was noted after rapid intervention by forestry officers in the Ighrem region on September 22, according to the press release. Two foreign nationals and a Moroccan citizen were identified, while the hunting weapon, the vehicle and other illegal means were seized.
These operations, among others, illustrate the increased vigilance of ANEF and the intensification of efforts to combat poaching as the opening of the hunting season approaches, the same source adds, recalling that these offenses not only represent a threat to biodiversity, but that they can also constitute a danger for forestry personnel. Indeed, on September 19, a poacher tried to infiltrate a gazelle reserve in Safi and shot at a guard before fleeing.
For these offences, the penalties incurred vary according to the seriousness of the offences, explains ANEF, specifying that offenders risk fines ranging from 8,000 DH to 100,000 DH, with, in the most serious cases, prison sentences of up to 6 months.
These measures, the agency recalls, aim to dissuade any repeat offences and to guarantee the protection of natural heritage, deploring the fact that, each year, around 300 acts of poaching are recorded across the country.
In this regard, ANEF expressed its commitment to relentlessly pursue offenders, in collaboration with local authorities and the Royal Gendarmerie, and to take all necessary measures to enforce the law and protect the Kingdom’s natural resources.
Therefore, ANEF invites all citizens to actively engage in the protection of wildlife and ecosystems by respecting the legislation in force and recalls that “severe sanctions” will be applied against any offender.
