Taiping 4 Gorilla Crime

[Guest guest]

Sonia Meintjes, CITES official South Africa

and Francois Rogers, MINEF official in Cameroon

and Musa Nordin, Environmental official in Malaysia

 

If you've been watching the internet, you'll know I've been closely monitoring

this situation from its inception. Unlike people at IPPL, who have been

protecting animals and exposing criminals in government and animal trade for 30

years now, I'm relatively new to the politics, intrigue and unabashed

self-serving done in the name of animal conservation.

 

I'm still trying to figure out who the " good guys " are, versus the ones with

vested interests who pretend to don the white hat of animal

conservation-good-guys, while helping disreputable animal traders and dealers,

and the few unscrupulous zoos who use them, get away with murder - ie: the

countless gorillas slaughtered so 4 babies could end up in Taiping, or even

Pretoria Zoo.

 

While researching a story for the Gorilla Gazette, Taiping's zoo director, Kevin

Lazarus, first confirmed to me Taiping had 4 baby gorillas. I was excited ...

but confused. You see, I know where ALL approximately 800+ captive gorillas

are, since that is my " business, " so to speak. I asked Dr. Lazarus to provide

me details of these 4 babies - sire, dam, birth dates, and he was always too

busy to answer with these details, so it was quickly obvious there was something

a LOT of people were trying to hide.

 

Well, thanks to the Internet, there's no hiding for very long. How or why South

Africa, as one of the 3 countries responsible for the transport of these 4

gorilla babies, believes the gorillas belong in their National Zoo is

bewildering to me and my many, many, good friends in animal conservation in

South Africa. Indeed, for many of the " white hat good guys " I know in South

Africa, bringing the T4 gorillas to Pretoria is embarrassing and shameful. It

sends out a bad message for the children of the future - that is: " Help by

turning a blind eye to a crime, and you'll be rewarded with the loot from the

crime, if you know the right people in power and play the game right.... "

 

In the old American TV comedy " Hogan's Heros " the baffoonish German prison

guard, Sgt Schultz, would roll his eyes and declare " I know nothing! " as his

prisoners left the prison, and conducted their illicit business under his nose.

It was a great comic foil, since everyone was aware Schultz knew exactly what

was going on, however exposing it would have meant more trouble for him with his

superiors than it was worth. I'm thinking the same thing happened when 4

gorilla babies transitted through South Africa, a country long attempting to get

more gorillas for their zoos via the EEP. For CITES officials in South Africa

not to notice or question the " captive born " status of the 4 baby gorillas from

Ibadan Zoo in Nigeria, shows either a Sgt Schultz mentality or worse - total

ineptitude.

 

In the past, there were no good sanctuaries in range countries to take back

great apes brutally stolen from their country's jungles. Now there are. These

gorillas belong in Cameroon. Cameroon's government has repeatedly asked for

them back. How or why people in Malaysia and South Africa - 2 of the 3

countries involved in this crime in one form or another - get to decide these

gorillas' fate is another mystery to me. Cameroon and Nigeria have worked

together to repatriate other gorillas stolen from Cameroon's forests and I was

privileged to be at Limbe Wildlife Centre in May to watch the return of Twiggy

and Brighter - a great day in the history of two African great ape range

countries making a clear stand to STOP the slaughter.

 

Nigeria is the only country to actively pursue and prosecute people involved in

the T4 case, while South Africa claims no responsibilty (other than the fact the

animals transitted right under CITES noses and were carried on South African

Airways), and Malaysia is playing victim to a con, licking their wounds as if

they're the victim, not the responsible party who initiated this crime in the

first place.

 

Why this has gone on as long as this has, is another mystery. Clearly, there's

big money and other vested interests of tit for tat, payback, etc, involving

more than just these 4 gorillas, despite protestations from WAZA's director, who

claims gorillas aren't big draws in zoos - a position no one else in the zoo

world seems to support.

 

I know from personal email exchanges with some officials, everyone is sick of

this case and wants it to " go away " ... Bill Clinton wanted the Monica Lewinsky

case to go away too, as did Richard Nixon and Watergate. But in the end, only

by exposing and admitting the TRUTH and doing the right thing, will this case

" go away. "

 

DO THE RIGHT THING: RETURN THE GORILLAS TO CAMEROON ...

 

It really is that simple.

 

Thank you for your time.

 

Jane Dewar

Founder, Gorilla Haven www.gorilla-haven.org

Publisher, Gorilla Gazette

President, Dewar Wildlife Trust, Inc.