pet stores link to endangered trade

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New Straits Times

 

Pet stores link to ‘endangered’ trade

Nisha Sabanayagam

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Tues: 31 May 2005

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Despite strict international and local laws, protected or endangered animals

still find their way to pet stores.

 

A check on pet stores in the Klang Valley revealed the sale of animals

listed under Appendices I and II of the Convention on the International

Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

 

Appendix I lists species threatened with extinction, where commercial trade

is prohibited.

 

Appendix II lists species for which trade is regulated with permits to avoid

threats of extinction.

 

That the Radiated Tortoise and the Spider Tortoise can be found in pet

stores is cause for concern, as they are listed under CITES I.

 

Both these endangered species are endemic to Madagascar, where they are

totally protected.

 

Other animals commonly found in pet stores, like the Indian Star Tortoise,

Pig-nosed Turtle, Burmese Python and Banded Tegu, are listed under CITES II.

 

This indicates that they are being smuggled into the country.

 

According to the international wildlife monitoring network Traffic,

smugglers use ingenious methods to bring the animals in and out of the

country.

 

Smaller animals are carried in pockets or in hand baggage, while bigger ones

are packed in crates or containers and shipped using falsified documents.

 

" Protected species are often sent in boxes containing non-protected

species, " said Chris R. Shepherd, Regional Programme Officer for Traffic

Southeast Asia.

 

" Enforcement agencies need to be vigilant, " he said, adding that the

hundreds of Indian Star Tortoises available in stores around the country

attested to the high level of smuggling.

 

" Species such as the Indian Star Tortoise and other small animals are

usually smuggled in luggage, including carry-on bags. "

 

Customs director-general Datuk Abdul Halil Abdul Mutalib said it was easy

for smugglers to bring in smaller animals hidden in their clothes because

body searches were not carried out.

 

" Body searches are not performed here because it is quite a sensitive issue

in this country. "

 

Halil said of a person’s luggage, only taxable items were checked whereas

items sent as cargo did not involve the Customs.

 

On whether cargo goods are checked for smuggling, Malaysian Airlines Cargo

(Maskargo) general manager (operations) Yunos Idris said this was not its

job.

 

" The authority from the country that sends the cargo has already approved

the shipment.

 

" As long as there is a permit and approved paperwork, I cannot question the

details of the cargo.

 

" If there were an albino python, I may wonder if the animal were endangered

but do not expect me to question a foreign Government. "

 

Yunos said his team was not allowed to open the cargo shipments, but merely

to ensure they got from point A to point B.

 

But Maskargo commercial support manager Shamsul Akmal Shamsuddin admitted

that they could alert the Wildlife or Fisheries Departments if they

suspected something amiss.

 

Shamsul said some smugglers were inhumane as they wrapped small animals in

aluminium foil to avoid X-ray detection.

 

He said Maskargo was working with Traffic to train officers to identify

protected and endangered species.

 

The international illegal wildlife trade is estimated to be worth an annual

US$6 billion to US$20 billion (RM22.8 billion to RM76 billion) — about the

size of the global narcotics and illegal arms trade.

 

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