[gorillakeepers] more news- Taiping Four

[Guest guest]

>>Sonia Meintjies<<

 

Funny, how this name, the CITES official in South Africa, keeps coming up when

serious questions arise about HOW the T4 originally transitted thru South

Africa, and how they've managed to be returned there ... hmmmm.....??? j

-

stonehand00

gorillakeepers

Monday, April 19, 2004 3:31 PM

[gorillakeepers] more news- Taiping Four

 

 

Orphaned gorillas must leave - NSPCA

Posted Mon, 19 Apr 2004

Four orphaned gorillas which arrived in South Africa last week should be sent

to a sanctuary in Cameroon, the NSPCA said on Monday.

The four primates from Cameroon, dubbed the Taiping Four, were orphaned when

their parents were killed for bush meat in the west African country.

The siblings, three female and one male, were smuggled from Cameroon to

Nigeria and exported via South Africa to Taiping Zoo in Malaysia in 2001 on

fraudulent documents.

Rick Allan, spokesperson for the National Society for the Prevention of

Cruelty to Animals said the Limbe Wildlife Centre of the World Society for the

Protection of Animals in Cameroon could accommodate the four western lowland

gorillas.

" They would be able to live out the rest of their lives in safety and

security but in preferable conditions — including climate, roaming area and

integration with others of their species — than can be provided by a zoo. In

this

proven facility, the animals' biodiversity behaviours will be satisfied. "

Allan said the Pretoria Zoo had one gorilla. " Five others have died there.

The Taiping Four are in quarantine. South Africa has no native gorillas. "

Gorillas are listed on Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in

Endangered Animals (CITES) and all commercial trade is strictly forbidden. It

is estimated that there are between 200 and 250 western lowland gorillas left

in the world.

Allan said the NSPCA had contacted Sonia Meintjies of the South African CITES

office to express its unhappiness at the gorillas' relocation to South Africa.

 

 

[Guest guest]

Anyone out there know if Pretoria ever condemned the smuggling of these four

babies to Taiping in the first place???

 

WAZA initially did a press release condemning this act, but then they got real

quiet and, as in the past, they just assumed the zoo world would benefit from

the spoils of this incident.

 

But now Pretoria and Taiping are talking like they're just two reputable zoos in

good standing with WAZA, discussing future plans of sharing " information " now

that the Taiping 4 gorillas are " freed " and in Pretoria ...???

 

I'm still confused.

 

Jane

-

stonehand00

gorillakeepers

Monday, April 19, 2004 9:49 PM

Re: [gorillakeepers] more news- Taiping Four

 

 

Yea, that name is so familiar. I wrote Sonia Meintjies a very blunt letter

with no response (though I didn't really expect one). I'm sick of complaining

about this subject. We need a concrete plan to counter this move by Pretoria

(I

know some are actively working on it). The zoo will continue to have the naive

Ignorance of the media to cover this 'great success' story and tell the

public how the gorillas are settling in to their new home!

 

Funny, I just spoke with a woman from Africa. She told me about her

grandmother going to the field to collect corn only to find gorillas that

wanted the

corn more. As she put it " They were non aggressive. " I'm sure those gorillas

would rather live behind bars in a zoo than out raiding a corn field then

going

back into the forest, right?

 

Rick