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2007/12/17-New Straits Times,
Malaysia Animal trafficking: Fix the loopholes in laws By : S.M. MOHD IDRIS, President, Sahabat Alam Malaysia, Penang THE return of the "Taiping 4" gorillas to Cameroon, ending a five-year saga, is an important victory in the battle to protect Africa's natural heritage. Finally, these gorillas will spend the rest of their lives in the company of other gorillas at the Limbe Wildlife Centre. This was made possible when the Cameroonian government made it clear in 2003 that it wanted the gorillas back after DNA tests confirmed they were from Cameroon. Animal welfare groups joined by non-governmental organisations, locally and abroad, lobbied governments and international organisations for the return of the gorillas. The return of the gorillas sends a clear message that wildlife is worth fighting for and that it is against the law to capture gorillas in the wild, and ship them overseas using forged documents. This is a clear message to poachers, traders, dealers, zoos and all those involved in the black-market animal trade that no one should profit from the trade in endangered animals. Almost everyone implicated in trafficking of gorillas in Nigeria has had legal action taken against him, but sadly this is not the case in Malaysia. No action has been taken against those involved in the act. Instead of sending a signal that the smuggling of valuable species will result in prosecution, it conveys the message that one can get away scot-free. This is due to flaws in the Protection of Wildlife Act which do not allow action to be taken if anyone is implicated. Also, there are no provisions in the act requiring applicants to state whether an animal is captive bred or sourced from the wild. So what is to stop this from happening again? As long as there is no verification of signed CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) documents, which can be forged or signed off with false information, as long as loopholes in CITES laws allow countries to decide where confiscated animals go, and as long as no one is charged with any criminal deed, then there is nothing to stop this travesty from happening again, not only to gorillas, but other endangered animal species which are being depleted from the jungles of west and central Africa for zoos and pet markets. The onus is on the Malaysian CITES authorities to ensure that this does not happen again. It is their responsibility to ensure that animals imported for zoos are from legal sources and, if in doubt, to cease all trade. |
