Fw: PLEASE POST TO ALL ANIMAL LISTS

[Guest guest]

-

Jane Dewar

Wednesday, November 13, 2002 1:24 PM

Fw: PLEASE POST TO ALL ANIMAL LISTS

 

 

 

The following speech was delivered yesterday to a well-attended press briefing

at the CITES CoP

12. The Malaysian Head of Delegation was also present, and assured the

gathering that Malaysia

was also investigating the case; when asked by a reporter about the value of

gorillas, the

Nigerian Minister held aloft the price list offering " 4 heads of baby gorillas "

for a total of

US$1.6 million. The Malaysian Delegate then said it was noting like that

amount - he had heard

it was US$200,000 - a tacit admission that money was paid and it therefore WAS a

purchase rather

than a non-commercial exchange.

If you see any media coverage of the case, do please forward a copy to me and/or

Shirley McGreal

of IPPL.

Hasta la vista,

Ian

NIGERIA ACTS SWIFTLY TO END ILLEGAL TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES

AND REJECTS CLAIMS OF " IMMACULATE CONCEPTION " IN GORILLA SAGA

 

Press statement by His Excellency OTUEKONG (Dr) IMEH T. OKOPIDO, Honorable

Minister of Environment

(State), Leader of the Nigerian Delegation to CITES CoP 12.

 

Protocol:

 

1. The Nigerian Government has re-deployed CITES Enforcement Officers to

Nigerian airports,

seaports and border posts of the country in a renewed effort to stamp out

illegal importation and

exportation of endangered species.

 

This follows the January 2002 illegal export of four young Western Lowland

Gorillas, flown from

Lagos Airport, Nigeria, to Malaysia, via Johannesburg, on South African Airways.

 

At a full cabinet meeting, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria agreed that

the redeployed

Ministry of Environment CITES Enforcement Officers should work in close

collaboration with the

Nigerian Police, Customs Service, Immigration Service and other regulatory

agencies.

 

2. We took very seriously the gorilla smuggling incident, and the tarnishing of

our country's

image internationally. Accordingly, all persons involved - whether government

officials or

private individuals - will be investigated by the Independent Corrupt Practices

Commission and if

need be, Interpol will be invited to help track down the smuggling network.

 

3. Nigeria signed and ratified the Convention on International Trade in

Endangered Species of

Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1976.

 

Background to the " Taiping Four " Case

 

4. On 10th December 2001, Prof M. O. Akusu of the University of Ibadan

Veterinary Teaching

Hospital issued a clean bill of health to " Alice " a 33 month old Lowland Gorilla

of the genus

Gorilla, species gorilla,sub-species gorilla from the University of Ibadan

Zoological Gardens

before its despatch to Taiping, Malaysia.

 

It is of interest at this point to state that the sub-species of gorilla found

naturally in

Nigeria is Gorilla gorilla diehli - the Cross River Gorilla.

 

Therefore, ab initio, the origin of the gorilla examined is not Nigeria, given

that there are no

breeding groups of gorillas in captivity in the whole of Africa.

 

The ONLY LIVING ADULT GORILLA at Ibadan Zoological Garden is an elderly female,

and the only adult male is long dead, but still on display, stuffed, and is even

featured on the Oyo State website.

 

Are we to believe that these allegedly captive bred infants were the result of

" IMMACULATE

CONCEPTION " ? We reject this hypothesis outright!!

 

A more likely explanation was given by Ibadan Zoo keeper Olalekan Akanji; he

told Glen McKenzie

of Associated Press, that the four gorillas " came from the jungle in Cameroon. "

Another zoo

keeper, Mr Friday Ndubisi Onwuka, interviewed by Mr McKenzie confirmed that the

gorillas came from

" the forest " and spent time in Ibadan before flying to Malaysia.

 

5. Gorillas are listed on Appendix 1 of CITES, which bans commercial trade.

Documents and

correspondence at my disposal clearly indicate that this unwholesome deal was an

illegal

commercial transaction and also that this was known to the directors of both

zoos. The documents

include:

 

A letter from a Nigerian businessman, Mr Tunde Odukoya, dated 5th June 2000, to

a zoo in Cameroon, copied to Dr Kevin Lazarus, Director of Taiping Zoo, and to

Dr Akinboye, Director of University of Ibadan Zoological Gardens,Nigeria,

seeking to procure six lowland gorillas (among other species).

 

A price list from Odukuya & Associates, offering for sale (among other

endangered species) " 4

heads of baby gorillas " for $400,000 each - i.e. 1.6 million dollars.

 

§ A statement to the press that Taiping Municipal Council, which manages

Taiping Zoo,

" bought the gorillas in good faith " by Datuk Ho Cheng Wang, Chairman of Taiping

State Science,

Environment, Health and Technology Committee - clearly admitting that it was a

commercial

transaction (reported in The Star, 7th November 2002).

 

§ The CITES export permit for five gorillas, signed by Engineer D. B.

Usman, who is not a

member of the Nigerian CITES Management Authority and could not have been

mandated to sign it in

his then position because only my Management Authority and I have the authority

to do so.

 

§ An official introduction from the Malaysian Deputy High Comissioner in

Lagos for Mr

Suffian Suppiah Bin Abdullah to " acquire and transport five (5) heads of Western

Gorilla babies

from the University of Ibadan Zoological Gardens. to Taiping Zoo. It would be

highly appreciated

if the relevant authoritiesinNigeria could provide their assistance and

cooperation. "

 

This collusion by high-ranking officials in both governments is unpatriotic,

very damaging to the

reputations of both countries and damaging to an endangered species that they

are employed to

protect.

 

It is important to realise that young gorillas are so sensitive to the stress of

capture that even

in experienced hands, 80 per cent of rescued orphans die. Thus to provide four

living infants, at

least 16 infants probably died.

 

And for each of these captured orphans, at least two members of their family

will have been shot

(the mother, the father, and any other group member who attempts to defend them)

- thus at a

conservative estimate, for four wild-caught infants to be in a zoo, 56 gorillas

have died, and a

total of 60 have been removed from the wild population.

 

6. When the legality of the shipment was questioned, the Malaysian authorities

withdrew their

permit for two more gorillas.

 

But I wish to ask - when representatives of Taiping Zoo visited Ibadan Zoo, as

part of their

so-called " routine zoo animal exchange programme " did they not ask how one

elderly, lone, female

gorilla produced four offspring between two and four years of age between the

time period of the

exchange programme? Did they not ask to see their parents? Or where these

animals were born?

These, I think, are the basic questions to be asked before issuing a CITES

permit.

 

With such a rare, endangered and high-profile species, to proceed without

answers to these

questions is tantamount to criminal neglect.

 

7. What Next for the Gorillas Involved?

The first priority is to analyse DNA samples from the four gorillas in Malaysia.

Professor

Michael Bruford of Cardiff University, UK, has offered to do the analysis, and

compare results

with his databank of gorilla DNA. This will determine the sub-species, and

possibly even the

area of origin of each infant. All he requires is a few hairs, with roots,

from each gorilla

(easily collected by sticking double-sided sticky tape where the animals brush

past, and snipping

the roots into a clean labelled envelope) or even a faecal sample would do.

 

Nigeria concurs with UNEP´s GrASP Technical Team and other conservationists who

recommend that the procedure for confiscated great apes should be to send them

to the nearest, government approved

facility to their area of origin, but recommends that this decision should be

based on science or

irrefutable evidence.

 

It is my candid appeal that the four gorillas be returned to their country of

origin in Africa.

Sending them to a zoo in another country sends a message that wild-caught

gorillas can still enter

foreign zoos, and those zoos will benefit from their arrival.

 

The conservation education value of captive gorillas is most needed in their

country of origin.

Returning confiscated animals to their country of origin sends a message to

potential buyers that

they will lose money if they risk such illegal deals.

 

To prevent such illegal shipments in future, CITES Management Authorities MUST

take steps to

verify claims of captive bred Appendix 1 specimens, seeking advice when

necessary from the wide

pool of experience in the CITES Secretariat, UNEP Great Ape Survival Project and

the NGO

community.

 

8. APPEAL: I wish to appeal to the CITES Secretariat in Switzerland and any

others concerned, to

support Nigeria in capacity building, and to help finance the deployment of

CITES Enforcement

Officers to the border posts, air and sea ports of Nigeria.

Nigeria has a large land mass with more than 870 kilometres of coastline

 

9. Appreciation: First, I would like to express the appreciation of the

Nigerian Government for

all that the CITES Secretariat has done in investigating this case, particularly

Mr John Sellar

and Ms Marceil Yeater. Their support for the proposed DNA analysis is most

welcome.

 

Secondly, I acknowledge the important role of Dr Shirley McGreal and the

International Primate

Protection League in exposing this nefarious scam.

 

I would also like to thank Ian Redmond, Head of the Technical Support Team of

the UNEP/UNESCO

Great Ape Survival Project for his assistance, and Professor Michael Bruford of

Cardiff University

for his kind offer to analyse the DNA.

The vibrant Nigerian Press, which helped to expose this scam, is appreciated

too.

 

10. Thank you for your time and God Bless.