Body parts of great apes recovered in Gabon raid

FIVE people have been arrested after being found with the heads of 12 chimpanzees and an endangered gorilla.

Charity WWF said the raid in the coastal nation of Gabon also included 30 chimp hands and body parts belonging to leopards, elephants and a lion. However, the suspects only face a maximum of six months' jail if convicted.

Officials said they did not know what the five were doing with the animal parts.

"Heads and hands, for example, are sometimes used for ritual ceremonies," said Natalia Reiter, communications manager for WWF International. "Some people believe it would bring them luck and some just keep it as souvenirs. Hands are believed to bring more power or are used as trophies."

Wildlife officials believe the case goes beyond Gabon as lions are not native to the country. The suspects are from elsewhere in Africa - four Nigerians and a woman from Benin.

"We don't know yet where these were going to be sent in this case," she said.

WWF African great ape manager David Greer said: "To my knowledge, there has not been a seizure of great ape body parts of this magnitude in Central Africa over the past ten years."

Bushmeat - the flesh of gorillas, chimps, elephants and other endangered and exotic species - is consumed and sold throughout sub-Saharan Africa, a practice fuelled by poverty that leads to poaching.

However, the meat also has a market in Europe among African immigrants. One study last year claimed more than five tons of bushmeat slips through the main Paris airport each week.