Plan to send chimpanzees from Ugandan sanctuary to China

[Guest guest]

[sample letter in opposition to this plan is appended below news article.]

 

http://allafrica.com/stories/200401220444.html

 

New Vision (Kampala)

January 22, 2004

Posted to the web January 22, 2004

 

By: Charles Wendo and Gerald Tenywa

 

The Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities is to export three

chimpanzees to China by March 2004. The proposal could lead to fears that

Uganda's name as a protector of great apes could be tarnished with a

consequent loss of tourism and donor funding.

 

Wildlife sources said a committee set up by the ministry on Friday sat at

the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) and endorsed the project. The chimps

would be obtained from the Ngamba Island sanctuary by the third week of

February 2004. The Island is a popular tourist destination.

 

The committee members include Justus Tindigarukayo, head of the ministry's

wildlife department; Dr. Arthur Mugisha, executive director of UWA and Beti

Kamya, executive director of the Uganda Wildlife Education Centre (UWEC).

 

The chimps would be shipped to Changshaa Zoo in central Hunan province,

where the chimps would be kept in tiny cages as opposed to the forest which

chimps enjoy on Ngamba Island.

 

Wildlife conservation groups are concerned that chimps are endangered

animals and would be mistreated in China. The chimp population in Uganda has

reduced from 100,000 in 1900 to 5,000 today.

 

They said it was unnecessary to take wild chimps to zoos since many chimps

bred in captivity were available.

 

The executive director of the Jane Goodall Institute Uganda office, Debbie

Cox, said Uganda was recently elected to represent Africa on the UN Great

Ape Survival Project. The chimp export could jeopardise this prestigious

appointment.

 

Dr. Andrew Plumptre of the Wildlife Conservation Society said the project

would reflect negatively on Uganda and was uncalled for especially at a time

when President Yoweri Museveni had just marketed the country through a

documentary on Discovery Channel.

 

" Such moves have in the past drawn heavy criticism and that could attract

negative publicity for Uganda. This could potentially impact on all the

things that Museveni is trying to do to promote tourism in Uganda, " Plumptre

said.

 

Tindigarukayo said the chimp committee had not yet sealed a deal. If the

chimps were sent to China, he said, the committee would ensure that they did

not suffer harassment. " We are working in the interests of Ugandans and the

welfare of the chimps, " he said.

 

It is not clear what Uganda would get in return for the chimps.

Tindigarukayo denied reports that the chimps would be exchanged for three

salt water dolphins.

 

Instead, he said, it would simply be a donation to strengthen ties with

China.

 

Kamya defended the chimp export project but said animal rights activists

should raise their concerns with the committee.

 

" If their concerns are genuine then they will be considered.

 

As long as we are not undermining the conservation of the animals, their

welfare and the laws, there is no problem with taking the animals to China, "

he added.

 

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Linda J. Howard [lindajhoward]

Friday, January 23, 2004 8:27 AM

wildlife.justus; Arthur.Mugisha;

bkamya

Cc: lrulacsec; uwa; dttiuganda

Ngamba Island Sanctuary

 

 

Mr. Justus Tindigarukayo-Kashagire

Dr. Arthur Mugisha

Ms. Beti Kamya

 

cc: Stephen Kabuye, Mayor of Entebbe

John Naganda, UWA Chairman of the Board

Blandina Nshakira, Director for Tourism, Trade & Industry

 

 

Dear Mr. Tindigarukayo, Dr. Mugisha and Ms. Kamya,

 

It was disappointing to read that Uganda's Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife

and Antiquities is contemplating exporting chimpanzees from Ngamba Island

Sanctuary to Changshaa Zoo in China.

 

Many of the chimpanzees on Ngamba Island were rescued by the Uganda

Wildlife Authority from poachers and/or traders. Habituating and integrating

these orphaned chimpanzees in to groups took time, patience and the

expertise of Ngamba Island Sanctuary staff. However, through a concerted

rehabilitation process, these chimpanzees have developed social bonds and

friendships and settled into their island life extremely well. It would be

a shameful betrayal to break apart the social bonds the chimpanzees have

formed and disrupt the continuity of the semi-free-ranging environment which

they have adapted to since being introduced to the island.

 

Ngamba Island Sanctuary provides Uganda with an in-situ chimpanzee

conservation project which should be cherished. As you likely realize,

in-situ conservation projects are vastly preferable to ex-situ conservation

because in-situ conservation projects are more effective and economical. No

amount of ex-situ education is more beneficial to species than the benefits

derived by involving local communities where a species is indigenous.

Ugandan chimpanzees are far better served by education and outreach

initiatives within Uganda.

 

Instead of seeking to import chimpanzees, China should focus on protecting

the nearly 500 animal species in China -- including the giant panda, the

golden-haired monkey [two species which head China's most endangered animal

list] and the South China tiger which is the most critically endangered of

all tiger subspecies.

 

AESOP-Project implores you to withdraw your intent to export

chimpanzees to China. You are in a position to set a positive example for

how fragile and irreplaceable endangered species should be treated. It is

time for Uganda to champion the cause of protecting all wildlife and raise

the standards by which all African species are treated.

 

Thank you in advance for your thoughtful consideration.

 

Sincerely,

Linda J. Howard

 

AESOP-Project [Allied Effort to Save Other Primates]

Website: http://www.aesop-project.org