(MY) Fw: primfocus: Inquiry targets 'plot' to smuggle gorillas from Nigeria

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Inquiry targets 'plot' to smuggle gorillas from Nigeria

By Michael Peel in Lagos

Published: June 1 2002 5:00 | Last Updated: June 1 2002 5:00

 

Global environmental watch-dogs have launched an inquiry into an

alleged plot to export wild gorillas from Nigeria to Malaysia using a false

permit and in defiance of international agreements on the sale of rare

animals.

 

The secretariat of Cites, the global convention on trading in

endangered species, said yesterday that it had written to the Malaysian and

Nigerian governments to ask for explanations of their conduct. The case

highlights the problem of illegal trading in Africa's rich but dwindling

protected fauna, which is the subject of inquiries by Interpol and

international customs authorities.

 

" There needs to be a full investigation of the circumstances of the

gorilla exports, " said Dr Muhtari Aminu-Kano, the executive director of the

Nigerian Conservation Foundation, a non- governmental body. " On what basis

did the Nigerian authorities issue permits? "

 

The Cites secretariat, which is based in Geneva, said it was

investigating the transfer in January of four lowland gorillas from the

zoological garden at Nigeria's University of Ibadan to Taiping Zoo in

Malaysia. The secretariat said it was responding in part to concerns that

the export permit issued by the Nigerian ministry of the environment may

have misrepresented the animals' status.

 

The permit, which has been seen by the Financial Times, described the

animals as " captive bred " even though people familiar with conservation in

Nigeria say no gorilla has ever been born and raised in a zoo in the

country. The gorillas are listed in appendix 1 of Cites, which bans trade

for commercial use and allows export only if it is not detrimental to the

survival of the species in the wild.

 

Juan Carlos Vasquez, a legal and trade policy officer at the

secretariat, confirmed that no Nigerian institution had registered at Cites

for permission to breed gorillas in captivity. " The important thing with

Nigeria is that they have to respond to the critical questions, " Mr Vasquez

said. " We need exactly to determine what was the purpose of this

transaction. "

 

Documents sent by Ibadan zoo to the environment ministry claimed that

the gorillas were to be exported as part of an animal-exchange programme

with Taiping Zoo. The papers admitted that no animals had been exchanged

since the programme began in 1999 but said Nigeria had requested two dozen

specimens from Taiping Zoo, including Indochinese tigers and Malayan sun

bears.

 

The Cites secretariat is working with Interpol and the World Customs

Organization, an intergovernmental body, on other investigations into the

alleged illegal export from Nigeria of animals including primates and

African Grey parrots.

 

Sanctions for breaking Cites, signed by most of the world's countries,

include a total ban on trading in species listed in the treaty.