A new wildlife law in Uganda sets stringent penalties that will hand life sentences to poachers of endangered wildlife species threatened with extinction.
The 2019 Uganda Wildlife Act will replace a 1996 law, which conservationists said was weak because it set a maximum jail sentence of only seven years for poaching and wildlife trafficking.
“Now we have one of the toughest wildlife conservation laws in the world,” said Barirega Akankwasa, Uganda’s commissioner of wildlife conservation.
The new legislation carries a maximum fine of 20 billion Uganda shillings ($5.4 million), life imprisonment, or both for poaching ...