Guest guest Posted April 16, 2004 Report Share Posted April 16, 2004 ***************************Advertisement*************************** TechCentral http://star-techcentral.com ***************************************************************** This message was forwarded to you by yitzeling. Comment from sender: This article is from The Star Online (http://thestar.com.my) URL: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/4/16/nation/7777508 & sec=nation ________________________ Friday April 16, 2004 Gorillas sent to South Africa By RASLAN BAHAROM TAIPING: The four young gorillas illegally sourced from Nigeria have been safely sent from the Taiping Zoo to Pretoria, South Africa, in a hush-hush move aimed at dodging the media. It is learnt that the animals, accompanied by Taiping Municipal Council president, Datuk Jamalludin Al Amini Ahmad, their keeper, K. Mani, and a veterinarian, departed on Tuesday. Council officials declined comment but a source said Jamalludin would disclose the matter to the media upon his return. The source said the media had been kept in the dark over the animals & #039; departure on the instruction of & #147;a higher authority. & #148; A check at Mani & #146;s home here yesterday confirmed he was away overseas. A family member who declined to be named said Mani was recently issued with a passport and had flown abroad on a & #147;very secret assignment. & #148; & #147;Ini rahsia besar kerajaan. Tak boleh kasi tahu. Nanti kami susah (This is a big government secret. We cannot tell. Otherwise we will be in big trouble), & #148; she said. Dubbed the Taiping Four, the primates, aged between 14 and 33 months then, arrived at the Taiping Zoo in January 2002. They were quarantined for three and a half months and were supposed to be put on display on May 1. The zoo cancelled its plans to exhibit the primates following mounting pressure and queries from the Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) over their acquisition. Since then the animals were kept in a locked enclosure, away from not only the media but also visitors. The acquisition of the baby gorillas also generated unprecedented attention at the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species conference in Santiago in November 2002, where a special session was held to discuss them. Then Science, Technology and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Law Hieng Ding decided to send the gorillas to South Africa under a bilateral technical co-operation programme between Perhilitan and the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa in Pretoria. Law had said he was misled into signing the import permit, believing that the animals were imported from a captive-bred facility in Nigeria. The University of Ibadan Zoological Gardens, the source of the animals, was questioned by conservationists who had found incriminating evidence of trafficking and monetary involvement in the so-called animal exchange programme between the zoos. In April, the transaction was exposed by the International Primate Protection League when it disclosed that the Nigerian facility did not have a breeding programme as stated in the export permit, thus casting doubts on the legality of the shipment. It was later revealed that the documents were forged. <p> ________________________ Your one-stop information portal: The Star Online http://thestar.com.my http://biz.thestar.com.my http://classifieds.thestar.com.my http://cards.thestar.com.my http://search.thestar.com.my http://star-motoring.com http://star-space.com http://star-jobs.com http://star-ecentral.com http://star-techcentral.com 1995-2003 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Star Publications is prohibited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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