Taiping Four Back in South Africa

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Many will recall that these gorillas already transited South Africa which

was the transit point in their original trip from Nigeria to Malaysia.

 

Freed gorillas on their way to SA

 

April 16 2004 at 06:12AM

 

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=126 & art_id=qw1082088720684B254 & set_id=1

 

By Pauline Jasudason

 

Kuala Lumpur - Four young gorillas captured illegally and kept in a Malaysian

zoo have been sent to South Africa, despite Cameroon's insistence they were

caught there and should be returned, a newspaper reported on Friday.

 

Cameroon says it has proof that poachers illegally captured the western lowland

gorillas in the country's south-west, transferring them to neighbouring Nigeria

and then northern Malaysia's government-run Taiping Zoo about two years ago.

 

After initially denying that the gorillas - one male and three females -

were illegally obtained, Malaysian authorities last July ordered the zoo

to send them back to Africa.

 

If the gorillas had been bred in captivity, their export may have been legal

 

But despite the demands from Cameroon's Ministry of Environment and Forestry,

Malaysian authorities told the zoo to send the gorillas to a South African

zoo, saying it could best care for the apes.

 

A team of officials left with the gorillas for South Africa on Tuesday with

orders to keep the trip a secret until after the animals were handed over

to authorities in Pretoria, The Star newspaper reported on Friday.

 

Zoo officials contacted wouldn't confirm or deny the report, and refused

to say whether the gorillas were still there. Officials at the Department

of Wildlife and National Parks also refused to comment.

 

The animals were sent to Pretoria under a co-operation program between

Malaysian

and South African wildlife authorities, the newspaper said.

 

The gorillas were brought to Malaysia in January 2002. In April of that year,

an American animal protection group said the primates had been supplied against

the rules of the United Nations's Convention on Trade of Endangered Species,

which Malaysia has signed.

 

The International Primate Protection League said the gorillas were shipped

to Malaysia by intermediaries using false documents claiming the animals

were born in Nigeria's Abuja Zoo.

 

If the gorillas had been bred in captivity, their export may have been legal.

But there is no known captive breeding program for gorillas in Africa, and

it is likely the apes were illegally captured in Cameroon, the league said

at the time.

 

Malaysian officials initially insisted the purchase of the gorillas was legal,

but conceded in October 2002 that the trade papers may have been forged.

- Sapa-AP

 

 

Dr. Shirley McGreal, Chairwoman

International Primate Protection League

POB 766

Summerville SC 29484, USA

Ph. 843-871-2280: Fax: 843-871-7988: www.ippl.org

 

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