The Western Regional Office of the Wildlife Division is calling for the arrest of a 42-year-old man Amuzu Mohammed for killing vultures and allegedly selling its parts to chop bars and to some Nigerians for medicinal purposes. Residents of Fijai, a suburb of Sekondi, who have been monitoring his bizarre activities for several weeks, apprehended him but he managed to escape from their grip. According to some residents who spoke to Maxx News, news of the killing of vultures on the community’s refuse dump came to their attention three months ago. They said some scrap dealers who in the process of picking scrap metals end up trapping the vultures with some poisonous substances. Mr. James Wilberforce Eshun, Chairman of the Fijai residents Association told Maxx News that 42-year old Amuzu Mohammed was caught red-handed with a cutlass smeared with blood and a dead vulture, whose head had been cut off and the body hidden under his scrap metal. According to him, they had been monitoring the activities of the scrap dealers following a tip off by a woman who is in charge of the refuse dump. He said that although Amuzu attempted to outwit them by visiting the refuse dump at a time when the attention of residents was focused on Ghana’s game against Guinea in the on-going African Nations Cup, he was unlucky that afternoon. Although Amuzu confessed selling the head of the vulture to a Nigerian woman at the Takoradi Market Circle, he was not forthcoming with information as to what happens to the body but residents alleged that he sells them to some chop bar operators. “I got one from the refuse dump and I cut off the head. But the residents said what I had done was wrong so they bundled me up together with the dead animal. But I normally don’t take the body with me. I only sell the head to someone. So I had to accept my offence. I don’t intentionally kill them,” he told a Takoradi-based radio station Skyy FM. “Anytime I go in search of the scrap metal and I see any of them, I just take off the head. Sometimes when I even see dead ones that are decomposing, I cut off the head and the woman who buys it at the Nigerian market in town pays me five cedis for each head. I beg them to forgive me because I won’t repeat this again,” Amuzu said. Meanwhile, the Western Regional Manager of the Wildlife Division Moses Kofi Sam, who said the killing of vultures is against the law, said his office will track down the suspect and press charges against him. He said although the Vulture is not a poisonous animal and could be consumed based on ones beliefs, it is considered a protected animal that must not be harmed. “We would want to follow it up and make sure that we bring this person before the law Courts. We have a number of animals that are classified as completely protected and the Vulture is one of them. This is because the special role that they play within our ecosystem which is giving us cleaning services in our surroundings. These vultures are the ones that clear all forms of carcasses no matter how bad they are decomposed. The punishment is two years prison term or a fine” he explained.