Guest guest Posted July 30, 2003 Report Share Posted July 30, 2003 Shirley, et al, Despite the spin some may want to put on this, the facts stand and speak for themselves: There is NO successful breeding program at Pretoria and even in South Africa. So regardless of whether or not this was a media reporting error, a misunderstanding of the government of Malaysia or the misinterpretation of the clever wording on the Pretoria application and the WAZA director's clarifications, the irrefutable facts are as follows, regarding gorillas in Pretoria, based on information easily available in the current International Gorilla Studbook dated 31Dec00: 1. DEAD: Studbook #447: Magret - female - wildborn 1970. To Pretoria 19Jun72. Died 26Feb97. No offspring. 2. DEAD: Studbook #448: Betty - female - wildborn 1970. To Pretoria 19Jun72. Died 24Feb98. Two offspring dead within days of birth. 3. DEAD: Studbook #462: Frank - male - wildborn 1970. To Pretoria 04Oct72. Died 97Jul95. No offspring. 4. ALIVE: Studbook #691/175: Hobbitt - male - 02Mar79 born in Stuttgart, Germany, " owned " by Jersey Zoo, UK, sent to Pretoria 1988. Two offspring dead (see #2). Pretoria director refused to let him transfer to another zoo on breeding loan, per online article 09Aug98. 5. DEAD: Studbook #1103: Maswi Dian - female - born in Pretoria 02Oct89; died in Pretoria 08Oct89. Parents Betty/Hobbitt. 6. DEAD: Studbook #1133: unnamed - male - born in Pretoria 23Aug90; died in Pretoria 30Aug90. Parents Betty/Hobbitt. How can anyone reading this information (if it were collected and presented as I've done above, instead of vaguely described as baby dying within days of birth as " could not be raised " ) come up with the assessment that Pretoria has the experience or success with gorillas, that all their money claims they'll have with the Taiping 4?? If anyone wants the list of the 12 gorillas thriving at Limbe, go to our website www.gorilla-haven.org for photos and details. Jane Dewar Founder, Gorilla Haven - " Shirley McGreal " <smcgreal <aapn > Tuesday, July 29, 2003 9:39 PM Gorillas for South Africa > The CITES Secretariat has claimed that it has not brokered the solution but > merely said it complies with CITES. WAZA was involved in arranging the > Pretoria Zoo outcome. Of the babies who died at 6 and 17 days, > respectively, according to Ken Wenlock, Dollinger commented, > > " What is written in the media does not necessarily reflect what was > submitted by the National Zoo of South Africa. The information provided by > Pretoria [to the Malaysian government] was absolutely clear and in no way > misleading. Regarding breeding, they stated that their male sired two > youngsters about 13 years ago which could not be raised. That's it. " > > To me this was not absolutely clear. Maybe it's clear to others. One could > have hoped that the babies were hand-raised. They died. Why Malaysia felt > this was OK is puzzling. SM > > ------------------------- > > Source: Mail & Guardian Online Tuesday, July 29, > 2003 [http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=17893] > > http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=17893 > > GORILLAS IN OUR MIDST > > Fiona Macleod > 28 July 2003 16:09 > > Four highly endangered baby gorillas that were illegally smuggled through > South Africa en route from Nigeria to Malaysia are due to be returned to > the Pretoria zoo to live out the rest of their lives. > > The move has sparked an international furore about whether it would be more > appropriate for the gorillas, known as the Taiping Four, to go to a zoo or > a sanctuary in their home range. > > The Mail & Guardian reported in June last year that the four were smuggled > via Johannesburg airport without any questions being raised by local > authorities, despite the permits being forged and the mysterious > disappearance of a fifth gorilla that was supposed to be part of the group. > > The four are western lowland gorillas, a species that is particularly > endangered there are about 200 to 250 left in the world. They were snatched > from their families, who were probably killed in the process, and smuggled > from the bush in Central Africa to a zoo in Nigeria. > > The Nigerian zoo then sold the gorillas to the Taiping zoo in Malaysia, on > the pretext that they came from a captive-breeding facility in Nigeria. > > Alerted to the scam by international primatologists and the ensuing media > reports, Malaysian authorities confiscated the four from Taiping zoo. > Malaysian Environment Minister Law Hieng Ding said he had been tricked into > signing an import permit for the primates. > > The Nigerian government recently set up a panel of inquiry to investigate > the deal and expressed concern about the bad image of the country created > by illicit trade in endangered species. > > Willie Labuschagne, director of the National Zoological Gardens in > Pretoria, says he is not sure when the gorillas will arrive, though he has > staff on standby and the gorilla enclosure is ready. > > He denies signing a bilateral technical cooperation programme with Malaysia, > according to which future offspring of the Taiping Four would be sent back > to Malaysia. > > Renowned primatologist Jane Goodall has added her voice to calls for the > gorillas to be sent to a gorilla sanctuary in Central Africa, where they > will have a chance to mingle with other gorillas and live in semi-wild > conditions. The Taiping Four are estimated to be between two and five years > old; gorillas can live to 30 or 40. > > The critics say allowing South Africa and Malaysia to keep the gorillas, > which have a huge commercial value, after the countries flouted the > Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) would set > an undesirable precedent. > > Gorillas are fully protected under Cites. That four young gorillas > certainly brought into captivity by the slaughter of their mothers could be > shipped internationally in 2002, nearly three decades after Cites came into > effect, is a tragedy,says Shirley McGreal, chairperson of the United > States-based International Primate Protection League. > > It is very important that any solution for these four individual animals be > engineered not only to protect the well-being of these animals, but to > attempt to prevent recurrence of similar incidents. > > She says the Pretoria zoo does not have a good record of fostering gorillas, > three of the four gorillas it acquired in the 1970s were dead by the end of > the 1990s and no gorilla births have yet been recorded [i did not know > about the babies when the story was being written]. > > Dave Morgan, head of the African Association of Zoos and Aquaria, says the > Pretoria zoo was chosen as the end destination by Cites headquarters in > Switzerland because of its sound financial standing. > > Gorillas are very expensive to keep and the Taiping Four will need lifelong > care. The Pretoria zoo has the budget, including subsidies from the > government, Morgan says. > > Source: Mail & Guardian Online Tuesday, July 29, > 2003 [http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=17893] > > > > For more information on Asian animal issues, please use the search feature on the AAPN website: http://www.aapn.org/ or search the list archives at: aapn > Please feel free to send any relevant news or comments to the list at aapn > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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