Nigerian, Malaysian zoos accused of illegal gorilla trading

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Nigerian, Malaysian zoos accused of illegal gorilla trading

April 27, 2002 Posted: 8:51 AM HKT (0051 GMT)

 

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) -- U.S. and Nigerian wildlife conservation groups are

investigating allegations that four young gorillas captured in the African

bush were recently traded to a Malaysian zoo as part of a burgeoning illegal

trade in endangered primates, officials said Friday.

 

Shirley McGreal, chairwoman of the International Primate Protection League,

based in Summerville, South Carolina, said the four gorillas -- one male and

three females -- were sent by a zoo currently being built in Abuja, Nigeria,

to the Taiping Zoo in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

 

The gorillas were allegedly shipped by South African Airways in mid-January

via Johannesburg, South Africa. South African Airways officials said they

could not immediately confirm the shipment. Officials at the Nigerian zoo

could not be reached for comment.

 

Conservationists believe the animals were illegally captured in the rain

forests of Nigeria's central African neighbor, Cameroon, McGreal said.

 

Trading of endangered species, including gorillas, whose origins are not

firmly determined is forbidden under CITES, the international convention

governing the international animal trade.

 

Taiping Zoo officials sent a letter to the Protection League confirming it

had recently received several gorillas from the Abuja zoo. A copy of the

letter was obtained by The Associated Press. The gorillas were part of an

exchange with the Nigerian zoo under which the Malaysian institution agreed

to send other rare animals back to Nigeria, the letter said.

 

Malaysia's Department of Wildlife and National Parks confirmed that Taiping

Zoo had received two gorillas, but said it had taken steps to stop the

importation of the other two gorillas.

 

The hunting and capture of gorillas in Uganda, Rwanda, Congo, Cameroon,

Nigeria and Gabon, where remaining populations of the primates are

threatened by deforestation and hunting, is officially banned.

 

There are no known captive breeding programs for gorillas in Africa.

 

Nigeria is believed to have between 200-250 gorillas living in mountains

bordering Cameroon, a population that is closely monitored by wildlife

experts.

 

" We are now very concerned ... about the source of the gorillas, " the letter

from Taiping Zoo said.

 

Nigerian Conservation Foundation officials, speaking on condition of

anonymity, warned of sophisticated efforts by middlemen to market endangered

primates and other species to zoos in Asia and the Middle East for millions

of dollars.

 

With an increasing shortage of Asian orangutans, the demand by zoos for

African gorillas had grown, McGreal said.

 

Protection League showed The AP copies of a letter written by a Nigerian

firm, known as Odukoya & Associates, to a Middle Eastern zoo which appeared

to offer the sale of four baby gorillas for $400,000 each.

 

It was not known if the four gorillas were the same animals as those sent to

Malaysia.

 

" Our offer is based on the highest bidder and first-come-first-served

basis, " that letter stated. Representatives of the firm could not be reached

for comment.

 

The letter also offered for sale four baby mandrills for $125,000 each, and

four baby chimpanzees for $50,000 each. Other endangered or protected

species included baby lions, jackals, parrots and caracal.

 

" No wild mother gorilla is safe with a bounty like that on her baby's head, "

McGreal commented, explaining that groups of adult gorillas are typically

very protective of their young and have to be shot and killed before

smugglers can seize their babies.