Fw: primfocus: Gorillas - IFAW joins the fray!

[Guest guest]

Check out the part where Pretoria's director talks about how much money

they've spent on these gorillas, then ask yourself how much money has

Pretoria spent on gorillas in situ, or sanctuaries or PASA, who are at the

frontline of the illegal trade in gorillas they're now profitting by ...??

 

j.

 

-

" Shirley McGreal " <smcgreal

<primfocus

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 2:17 PM

primfocus: Gorillas - IFAW joins the fray!

 

 

> Daily news

> 'Pretoria Zoo gorillas should go'

>

> Tuesday April 20, 2004 14:42 - (SA)

>

> An animal rights group accused South Africa of breaching international

> conventions by sheltering four young gorillas in a Pretoria zoo.

>

> Christina Pretorius, spokeswoman for the International Fund for Animal

> Welfare (IFAW), said: " South Africa has flouted the same international

> conventions it helped form by allowing the so-called Taiping Four gorillas

> to be moved to a Pretoria zoo instead of returned to Cameroon, their

> country of origin. "

>

> It would seem the gorillas first came to light in 2001 when they were

> " illegally " exported to the Taiping Zoo in Malaysia. They were then

> confiscated by the authorities.

>

> Pretoria Zoo then submitted an application to the Malaysians offering to

> take care of the primates. They finally arrived in South Africa on April

14

> and are now in quarantine at the Pretoria Zoo.

>

> Pretorius said the IFAW had called for the South African government to

> respect the Convention on Trade in International Species (Cites) which

> said: " Where the country of origin desires the return of the animals, this

> desire should be respected. "

>

> Said Jason Bell-Leask, director of IFAW South Africa: " Annex One makes it

> very clear that the Taiping Four should ideally be returned to Cameroon,

> from where they were originally caught and smuggled out to the Taiping

Zoo,

> Malaysia, on fraudulent documentation.

>

> " And, while Annex One is not binding, as a signatory to Cites and in the

> spirit of international co-operation, South Africa should respect the

> conventions it helped put in place to safeguard endangered species. "

>

> Bell-Leask said Cameroon was well within its rights to demand the return

of

> the gorillas and that there should be no hesitation on South Africa's part

> in making plans to send them back.

>

> Willie Labuschagne, executive director of the National Zoological Gardens

> of South Africa (Pretoria Zoo), said following the illegal transportation

> of the gorillas to Malaysia, an application had been made to consider

> Pretoria Zoo as a suitable home for the animals.

>

> The application was successful.

>

> Labuschagne said extensive preparations were made to ensure the safe

> transportation to, and well-being of, the gorillas at the zoo.

>

> He said a vet had been sent from Malaysia to inspect the facilities in

> South Africa. A cargo of special food was flown in to give the gorillas

> time to adjust to the local diet and there was round the clock monitoring

> of the animals.

>

> In addition the existing facilities were extensively modified to

> accommodate all their needs including regulating heat and humidity.

>

> " We have spent a considerable amount of money on them, " said Labuschagne.

>

> He said some animal rights groups were saying the gorillas - who were

> between the ages of three and four years - should be sent to the Limbe

> gorilla orphanage in Cameroon.

>

> However, he pointed out it was not certain that they had originated in

> Cameroon in the first place and that Limbe did not have a breeding

> programme while Pretoria Zoo was part of an international gorilla breeding

> scheme.

>

> He warned that gorillas faced extinction.

>

> " Projections suggest the last gorilla (in the wild) will be killed in the

> next 10 years. "

>

> Pretorius said while the situation was " difficult and complicated, " the

> bottom line was, in terms of Cites, the Taiping Four should be returned to

> Cameroon and that the threat of extinction would be overcome if poaching

> was stamped out.

>

> Sapa

> -

>

>