Police has identified three poachers from Barangay Minoyan in Bacolod City. The men were captured after they sold 300 wild animals on Facebook for P150,000.
45-year-old Ramil Cabale, 27-year-old Ruzzel Taghoy, and 36-year-old Dexter Belleza were captured when they tried to sell the wild animals to poseur buyer of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG). Police reported the men did not have any documents authorizing them to possess or sell the wild animals, which were believed to have been collected from Mount Kanlaon Natural Park.
Joan Gerangaya, head of Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) in Bago City, said a concerned citizen saw the men selling wild animals in a secret buy-and-sell group on Facebook and tipped the police.
Among the animals recovered were Asian palm civets, Philippine orange tarantulas, assorted centipedes and millipedes, Philippine sailfin lizards, Negros forest dragons (geckos), and North Philippine temple pit vipers.
12 of the animals unfortunately died upon retrieval, while the surviving animals were released back into the wild in a protected area in Negros Occidental.
The arrested men will face charges for violation of the Republic Act 9147 or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act of 2001.
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