THE HERALD (Harare, Zimbabwe) 17 April 06 Trio caught skinning 4,2m python
Three Harare men were yesterday caught red-handed while skinning a 4,2 metre-long python at a house in Highfield.
The trio claimed that they had found the python dead on Saturday night after it was run over by a car along Simon Mazorodze Road in Willowvale. Officer in Charge of Crime at Machipisa Police Station, Inspector Richard Chinyanga, said the men took the reptile to their house in Lusaka where they cut off its head and skinned it before police raided them following a tip-off from a neighbour.
The three are believed to have skinned the reptile for its skin and meat, which police said had a ready market at Mukambo Market in Highfield, where it can fetch as much as $40 million. Police suspect that it is not the first time the suspects had killed pythons for their products. One of the suspected buyers was yesterday milling around Machipisa Police Station where the trio was being held.
Pythons are protected species, and Insp Chinyanga said the three suspects would be charged with contravening Chapter 24 (10) of the Parks and Wildlife Act, which makes it illegal to kill protected species. Assistant Police Commissioner Memory Pamire yesterday said people should not tamper with protected species like pythons. "When people come across such species, they should either report to the police or the National Parks and Wildlife (Management Authority)," she said.
Trio caught skinning 4,2m python