Statement from Save the Elephants’ Founder, Iain Douglas-Hamilton regarding the recent sentencing of Tanzania’s ‘Ivory Queen’

“The sentencing of one of Africa’s most notorious ivory smugglers, Yang Feng Glan, in Tanzania today  (February 19, 2019) shows that the Tanzanian government is serious about stamping out wildlife crime in the country.  Yang Feng Glan was arrested by the National and Trans-national Serious Crime Investigation Unit (NTSCIU) (now known as the NTAP) on 28 September 2015 and charged with smuggling ivory worth $2.51million.

After the devastating loss of elephants in Tanzania – a decline of 60 percent between 2009 – 2014, it is extremely encouraging to see the government taking such a hard stance on wildlife traffickers. The Glan case is one of a number of high level trafficking cases to have been taken seriously by the Tanzanian courts of late including the 12 year sentence imposed on trafficker, Boniface Matthew Mariano, also known as Shetani or The Devil. 

Credit must also go to PAMS Foundation in Tanzania, which has been supporting the NTSCIU through a Public Private Partnership since 2013 with field operations, investigation, case preparation to prosecution. PAMS has been invaluable stamping out wildlife crime and ending the slaughter of elephants in Tanzania.”

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