Ten Confiscated Elephant Tusks Recovered and Secured Following Year-Long Judicial Process in Kolwezi

Communication
11 minutes ago
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Ten elephant tusks and ivory tips confiscated in Kolwezi have been recovered and transferred to a secure wildlife stockpile facility of the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN), following months of judicial proceedings and institutional follow-up. The recovery, carried out between 17 and 20 August 2026, brings to a close an important stage in a case that began nearly a year ago, when the ivory was seized by the Prosecutor's Office attached to the Tribunal de Paix of Kolwezi/Manika from three alleged wildlife traffickers.

The ten ivory items had been seized in September 2025 from three alleged wildlife traffickers who were being prosecuted for the illegal possession and transportation of protected wildlife species under Congolese conservation legislation. The case was subsequently handled by the Prosecutor's Office before being brought before the Tribunal de Paix for instruction, with proceedings scheduled from February 2026 for trial and further judicial action. The three accused were granted provisional release and subsequently disappeared, while the judicial process continued.

Throughout the proceedings, the confiscated ivory remained under judicial custody. The legal services of Forgotten Parks ASBL, working in coordination with the Provincial Directorate of ICCN/Katanga and a CITES representative, followed the case and pursued the necessary legal procedures. Following the issuance of the restitution order, a joint delegation of ICCN, Forgotten Parks and CITES travelled to Kolwezi to complete the recovery and transfer of the seized material.

The ten ivory items were transported securely to a dedicated wildlife stockpile facility. Upon arrival, each item was weighed, tagged and entered into the digital Stockpile Management System (SMS), following procedures established under the Elephant Protection Initiative (EPI). Individual records include key measurements such as weight, length and circumference, creating a traceable record for each piece of ivory and strengthening the chain of custody.

The dedicated storage facility is one of several ones established to provide secure storage for confiscated wildlife products. Its shelves now contain a significant stock of seized ivory, managed according to standardized procedures designed to ensure accountability and prevent the loss or diversion of wildlife evidence.

The process highlights an often less visible dimension of the fight against wildlife trafficking. A successful seizure is only one step in the enforcement chain. The subsequent management of confiscated wildlife products – through judicial procedures, secure transportation, accurate documentation and controlled storage – is equally important to ensuring that evidence remains available for justice and cannot re-enter illegal markets.

For Upemba National Park and its partners, the case demonstrates the value of sustained collaboration between conservation authorities, judicial institutions and specialized initiatives such as the Elephant Protection Initiative (EPI). It also underscores the importance of applying data-driven stockpile management to wildlife law enforcement. The recovery of these ten ivory items is therefore not simply an administrative conclusion to a judicial case. It is another step towards building a stronger and more accountable system for combating wildlife trafficking; one in which every seized item can be traced, every movement documented and every piece of evidence securely accounted for.