Fwd: Malaysian/Singapore article re gorillas

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26 December Malay Mail also New Straits Times

 

 

MAIL HIGHLIGHT

" Send Gorillas To Cameroon " Plea

 

PENANG: The Malaysian Government, particularly the Science, Technology and

Environment Ministry, has come under fire again for the decision to send

the four confiscated baby gorillas to the Pretoria Zoo in South Africa.

 

This time around, pressure mounts from the executive director of the

National Council of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

(NSPCA) Marcelle Meredith who is also the director of the World Society for

the Protection of Animals.

 

Supporting the pressure is Canadian Primate Rescue's Jean Martin.

 

The NSPCA has sent a world-wide Press statement calling for the gorillas,

globally known as the Taiping Four, to be sent back to its country of

origin, Cameroon, as it alleges that the Pretoria Zoo (against which the

NSPCA recently laid criminal charges) has a bad record in caring for gorillas.

 

" Furthermore, the facility at the Pretoria Zoo for these gorillas is

currently being built but is not complete, " said Meredith in the statement.

 

She added that South Africa has no native gorillas and that the NSPCA

believes the gorillas should go back where they belong to Cameroon where

the Limbe Wildlife Centre can accommodate them.

 

" The NSPCA was saddened to receive confirmation in a communication from

Sonja Meintjes, who is the assistant director of trade and regulation,

Office of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species

(CITES) Management Authority, South Africa, " she said.

 

(Malaysia is a signatory of the CITES agreement.) " The CITES letter said

that they are happy that Malaysia has taken the recommendations into

account before they made their decision to send the animals to Pretoria

Zoo, " she said.

 

" However, the NSPCA is far from happy and had issued copies of the letter

we sent to Malaysia's Wildlife Department Chief Musa Nordin to the media as

well as South African role-players, including Meinjies. " Her reason to make

NSPCA's stand public is so that it goes on record.

 

The NSPCA represents 102 individual SPCAs in South Africa with their

constituent members plus affiliated SPCAs in neighbouring Botswana,

Namibia, Zambia and Mozambique.

 

" The NSPCA formally appeals to the Malaysian Government to pay heed to our

calls for sense and compassion to prevail, " she said.

 

" South Africa has no native gorillas and so, as exotic animals in our

country, they would be doomed to a life in captivity and in a country which

does not have a successful track record with gorillas.

 

" The NSPCA believes it is of vital importance that our stance is made

known. We shall go public with our stance and shall lobby to bring

influence to bear upon relevant parties. " Meanwhile, Martin who had been

following the Taiping Four saga, is " sickened that the Government of

Malaysia has decided that the gorillas should go to South Africa. " Besides

echoing Meredith's sentiments, Martin's vote to send the gorillas to

Cameroon's Limbe Wildlife Centre was based on its impressive track record.

 

" Limbe cares for a thriving healthy gorilla group used as the core animals

for an educational programme to teach the people of Cameroon to cherish

animals, " he said.

 

From his understanding, Martin disclosed an official of the Government of

South Africa made a telephone call to the CITES Secretariat claiming that

the Government of Cameroon had agreed that the gorillas should go to South

Africa.

 

" The Cameroonian official who reportedly made this agreement, however, has

repeatedly denied making such concession, " he said.

 

He added that it is possible that an unclear telephone line caused the

South African official to believe that Cameroon was happy about the

gorillas going to Pretoria.

 

" In any case, a report of a telephone call does not have any legal

significance in the absence of legally binding documents, " he said.

 

" It is not fair to Cameroon that official inter-governmental requests from

its Minister of the Environment, Tanji Mbianyor, and other officials

charged with wildlife protection, should be ignored. " On Aug 27 this year,

Mbianyor had written to Malaysia's Minister of Science, Technology and

Environment Datuk Seri Law Hieng Dieng, urging that the gorillas be sent to

their native land and not the Pretoria Zoo as had been initially agreed.

 

The letter brought forward clause 10.7 of the CITES agreement which stated

that (Disposal of confiscated live specimens of species included in the

Appendices) where the country of origin desires return of the animals, this

desire should be respected.

 

Following this, Law had announced in September that the Malaysian

Government had changed its decision to send the gorillas to Pretoria Zoo

after being advised accordingly.

 

But he had said no decision had yet been made although it was recently

understood that Malaysia's CITES had again recommended the Pretoria Zoo.

 

The issue of the Taiping Four became world-famous after they were

discovered to have been illegally brought into Malaysia for the Taiping Zoo.

 

Many conservationist groups have called on the Malaysian Government to

re-consider sending the primates to the zoo in Pretoria and had recommended

Limbe instead where the gorillas have a chance for survival.

 

This included the US-based International Primate Protection League (IPPL)

and Gorilla Haven, both of which have written to the Minister opposing the

decision to send the Taiping Four to Pretoria Zoo.

 

The two non-profit-making organisations as well as Sahabat Alam of Malaysia

have been strongly suggesting to Law that the gorillas be sent to the Limbe

sanctuary.

 

The issue of the Taiping Four became world-famous after it was discovered

to have been illegally brought into Malaysia for the Taiping Zoo.

 

Non-governmental wildlife monitoring groups brought the issue to the media

early last year as the four primates were believed to have been illegally

captured and smuggled out of Africa before the Taiping Zoo purchased them.

 

It was discovered that the trade permit, which was signed by Law, contained

the false declaration that it was approved by CITES.

 

On this, the Malaysian authority, particularly the Department of Wildlife

and National Parks (Perhilitan) is still probing into it.

 

©New Straits Times (M) Berhad