E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Chaiwat Subprasom / Reuters file
A Thai wildlife official holds an orangutan while an Indonesian official scans its microchip before it is repatriated to Indonesia on Nov. 21, 2006. The animal was one of 50 smuggled orangutans rescued from a Thai amusement park.
LONDON — The illegal trafficking of great apes by organized crime gangs and others prompted international action Wednesday that was hailed by experts as a major step toward saving them from extinction.
For the first time, governments agreed to set up a global reporting system in a bid to establish how many of the animals are being taken from the wild to perform in theme parks or to be shown off by wealthy collectors.
The decision was made by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora, which has 177 member countries, including the United States, at its 16th conference in Bangkok, Thailand.
The move came after a United Nations body made the first attempt to quantify how many apes are being stolen from their natural habitats in Africa and South-East Asia.
The United National Environment Program produced a report, Stolen Apes, earlier this month that estimated nearly 3,000 great apes were stolen alive every year.
The report said that a local poacher might sell a live chimpanzee for $50, but a dealer could resell the same animal for 400 per cent more. Orangutans can fetch $1,000 at resale, it added, noting gorillas illegally sold to a Malaysian zoo in 2002 reportedly cost $400,000 each.
Drugs, guns, money laundering
UNEP said in a statement that this illicit trade was "increasingly linked to organized crime and trans-boundary networks that move the animals in the same ways as drugs, arms and laundered money."
Doug Cress, one of the authors of that report, said Wednesday’s decision by CITES showed it recognized there was "an environmental crisis and that it needs to bring its full weight to bear on it."
Cress, of the U.N.-backed Great Apes Survival Partnership, admitted the figures in the Stolen Apes report were "so conservative" that they were "almost laughable."
A baby mountain gorilla is safe with Rwandan authorities after they rescued the endangered animal from poachers. TODAY.com's Dara Brown reports.
"We were trying to err on the side of caution, but we know they are far worse," he said. "That’s why this reporting mechanism that CITES adopted today is so important."
Cress said the demand for stolen apes came mainly from from zoos and theme parks in Asia and wealthy collectors in the Middle East.
"A zoo will say, 'We need two chimpanzees, go get them' and the dealers will fill these orders," Cress said. "It’s not a byproduct trade, it’s a systematic, cold and calculated business."
"Whereas in the Gulf states, it tends to be private menageries," he added.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species,the populations of the eastern and western gorilla, bonobo, chimpanzee, Sumatran and Bornean orangutan are all decreasing.
The western gorilla and Sumatran orangutan are critically endangered, the others are all endangered. It also lists humans, saying the population trend is increasing and its status is of "least concern."
'Our closest cousins'
Asked whether great apes would survive this century, Cress said it was "a coin flip right now."
"I think we’re waking up to the problem. The problem is human beings are in direct competition with great apes," he said. "They are our closet cousins we’re fighting with. We’ll win because we’re that much smarter, but we will also lose by winning."
"Unless we give them the space they need, it could be a bleak future," he added.
The CITES decision was also welcomed by Wendy Elliott, manager of WWF International's species program, who described it as a "significant" and "very positive sign of intent."
"The future for great apes across both Africa and Asia is really concerning," she said.
But Elliott said while international trafficking was a problem, the trade in apes for their meat at a local level was "the key factor that’s probably driving the poaching."
"If you are a wealthy or high status person, serving gorilla at a banquet gives you a certain amount of gravitas," she said.
"Unfortunately we’re seeing decreasing levels of great apes almost everywhere," Elliott said.
However she said there was "one glimmer of hope" in Uganda, where numbers of mountain gorillas, a subspecies of the eastern gorilla, have been increasing, partly because they help provide an income for local people through eco-tourism.
Related:
100 most endangered species listed with this question: Are they worth saving?
Two baby gorillas rescued in Congo; escalation of smuggling feared
Leave a Comment:
Anyone trafficking this wonderful creatures should be shot on the spot.
SB I agree. I have little or no sympathy or interest in humans who regularly kill each other with gay abandon. However this poaching of great apes, the slaughter of elephants, rihnos, tigers etal, the treatment of dogs by people like Vick enrages me.
Any type of global reporting system is set up for gang trafficking of women for prostitution?
moshuluu, the trafficking of women, while horrible and despicable also, has nothing to do with the fact that us humans are wiping out our closet relatives on the planet, whom have Every right to be here.
I am Very Happy that there is something being done on an international level. Whats been going on is just pathetic.
moshuluu: yes. google "United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking"
I am disgusted by the way humans treat animals.
But then, we treat each other pretty much the same way - so why am I surprised?
Poaching of any kind should be met with a semi-automatic weapon...period.
Yes...this is bad...however..global traffic in young girls is quietly brushed aside...
We've you been? There's an article every week in the MSM about human trafficking. As Mifo suggested, Google it and see for yourself.
and so it begins " the rise of the planet of the apes" the poachers will become the hunted !
Yes, human trafficking is a huge problem all over the world but..... those are comments for a different article. If we stay on track here, we need much more awareness world wide about what we are in danger of losing with endangered species.... most especially when the major threat to these animals is human predation for money. Zoos have to have licenses and inspections. Isn't anyone making them show where they get their animals? We are very close to losing the elephant. Imagine a world with no elephants in the wild! We are losing many species because some part of their body is worth many dollars to traditional Chinese medicine. The Chinese buy most of the ivory from illegal poaching of elephants. How about we start taking countries that are contributing to these extinctions to task? Thousands of sharks are mutilated and killed just for their fins for Chinese shark fin soup. Will the rest of the world stand by while China destroys any number of species and not hold them accountable?
What does a $400,000 gorilla eat?
Just make trafficking of endangered species a capital offense. It will not stop the trade, but it will push the price UP and the demand DOWN - a partial win-win.
We are the animals.
Gang trafficking of endangered great apes prompts global action
Gang [sex] trafficking of [women] prompts [no] global action
nice priorities!!! smh
http: //cjsrnews. com /2013/01/25/fiftymillion/
Here we are again
Something a man would say... but let me enlighten you. HUMAN FEMALES ARE YOUR CLOSEST RELATIVE on this planet and WE HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE HERE... your priorities , dear sir, are misplaced!
and I will be happy when something is done on the international level... because IT IS pathetic. And what's more pathetic is you thinking an ape is more important than another human life.
I am not saying apes shouldn't be protected, I am just saying we need to get our priorities straight. When we learn to value one another...no, i take that back... when we learn to value ourselves first, then one another....everything else will fall into place.
A quote from Dian Fossey who was killed for her efforts to protect the gorillas: " When you realize the value of all life, you dwell less on what is past and concentrate more on the preservation of the future."
Nothing great about the human "naked apes"!
Dangerous animals, watch out for them!
Do not have eye contact!
Very true!
Shoot these scum on sight and shoot to KILL!!!
Humans are despicable. Make open season and place a bounty on their heads,,, dead.
yeah and if that happened all you scumbag democraps would be using that for " see guns kill" ban guns . ya fcking moron ! off your self ya POS.
Cliff,,,,,, are you talking about me? I am a 50 yr. member of the NRA, also a "right wing gun nut" as some would call me. I am also active in the "pro-gun" movement. I am a legal "carry permit" holder, and your comment,,,,,"see guns kill",,,, I know of no guns that do anything with out some human picking them up and "making" them fire a round of ammo. So, I guess in your mind I am a POS,,,but only if you are a left wing gun grabber.
Cliff never knows what he talks about. He is just a foul mouthed troll that not even his mother would be proud of him.
Might this explain how Obama came to America?
Racist POS
I believe this kid is still growing up. Ways to go bro.
I believe Obama came to America on Air Force One. That's because he is the president of the United States, and you are not! Get over it loser!
SIGH, Rober34--your bridge called, it misses its troll.
caliing him troll is too kind... he is a racist POS....treat him like a poacher
great apes have more desirable qualities than the apes that traffic in them....
Robert, you're the first poster that ever made me consider putting them on ignore. I usually don't agree with comments being collapsed. In this case, I'll make an exception.
In a world where human life means nothing to many people, the animals are undoubtedly going to get short shrift. I can only speak out when these terrible wrongs are being committed, as we all should.
mares eat oats, and does eat oats, and little lambs eat ivy, a diddly divey do wouldn't you?
sledgehammer--hahaha---but the last phrase you got wrong . It's "a kid'll eat ivy too wouldn't you?"
Never miss an opportunity to be a total sack of feces, rober.
Shame, defenseless animals slaughtered, and POS like Rober34 gets to live... What a would we live in.
Looks like rober34 must have hit a nerve, name calling and labeling is just as bad
IMart , in what way? I am not a democrat.. I just find it despicable that people post useless crap like that on a very serious issue. looks like rober is in good company with you huh? LOL Figures
You see the same crap on every news article. some joker has to bring up some bull@!$%#.. usually racist no less... that the nerve that pisses me off.. and you defend him? Ha 2 peas in a pad as they say....
No patience for Racists, especially on something that has nothing to do with this news report. i have no problem speaking my mind, to me , that's what he is. Period. End of story. Agree with him? I will think the same of you,, pretty simple.
@here we
hey get the fck off your high horse ya scumbag. some people believe in what they want to , reguardless of how stupid it maybe . he is entitled to his opinion like your entitled to that welfare check that keeps your internet on . so in general "here we are again " just troll on troll off , just troll away . ya scumbag !
Here we are again- if you could read properly you would see that Martay was not agreeing with rober but calling you a hypocrite. rober discriminates against the president, you discriminate against him. No matter that subject of discrimination it is still the same. Therefore you are no better. Discrimination of race, discrimination of someone's beliefs, there is no difference.
You also go on about how you hate when people go off subject. Did you not do that also? Yes you did.
We have a president? Where is he?
Like it is for drugs, prostitution, burglary, etc. if there is no demand for these goods or services there will be no supply. I am not blaming the zoos but when a zoo is wiling to pay $400,000 for a gorilla then you can be sure someone will be more than willing to provide that gorilla. No task force, global reporting system, conference, agency, etc. will be successful in curbing illegal supply (of any product or service) for so long as there is enough money involved to tempt the criminally inclined.
If zoos, circuses, research facilities, parks, or whatever need wild animals then they need a sourcing method for these animals that removes the price. Go capture one for yourself or get one donated. But if they persist in buying animals on what is effectively an open market then nothing will stop the criminals from selling products in that open market.
I concur
We Need to not let the zoos etc, buy animals with no papers. I am hoping whatever the name of the international agency is, that hopefully this is one of the issues they look into.
I have been reading about and following the articles on the Orangutan and Chimps for a couple of years now. People, I think, do not realize the gravity of the situation.
Maybe the locals around the other great apes need to do what the local villagers near the Lowland Gorillas did, Which was offering tours of the lowland Gorilla's, since they found out they could make money on tourism, they stopped the killing. No Poaching either, or very little, the locals protect the lowland gorilla's..
The whole tourism thing is not the best answer but, the Lowland Gorilla's in that area are no longer on the critically endangered list at least. I saw a Great Show on them about 6 months ago.. a real eye opener.
Sorry, didn't mean to rattle on, just something near and dear to me.
HEAR WE ARE AGAIN, WELL AT LEAST THIS TIME ' YOU ' DID NOT GET OFF THE SUBJECT. but you do not have trouble rattling on when YOU belittle other commentors WHO DO NOT SHARE YOUR BELIEFS
Hear we are again -- I like your post #10.2. That approach could very well help save the great apes.
Stop taking your kids to zoo.... they are nothing but incarceration industry for animals...... When all zoos go bankrupt nobody will demand these animals.
touche
Agreed! As well as the Circus (that involve animals in "entertainment"). The animals are mistreated. It is so sad that any animals would ever be used for any form of human entertainment. Most of us are so clueless, our thoughts don't get any further then "Oh my God, it's so cute!"
Since no Country has done Jack Crap stopping gangs at anything why is this shocking? About the only thing that has happened is we can't protect borders or ourselves.
BPAC, Thank you so very much for your post. I am glad that people are taking a step for the good in this. But, the drug cartels, and many latino gangs, including MS13 are slowly taking over our streets, and BHO wants to give them a pathway to citizenship! WTF?
P.S. Is Michele alright? Like me if you get it!
Greyghost-2859754, I agree that were being slowly taken over by the cartels. However, I don't think most of their members will meet the education requirements for the path to citizenship. They don't want citizenship anyway, they're just here to make some money so they can go home and be big shots.
If only the orangutans, gorillas and chimps all had guns this wouldn't happen.
Take your stinkin' paws off me, you damn dirty human!
"get your stinkin' paws off me you damn dirty ape"
What sick ba$tards. Obviously a Caesar Salad or a Porterhouse Steak is not good enough for these morons.
My first thought was "How much closer to CANNIBALISM do they need to get?" I mean seriously, this is like one chromosome from the genetic gene pool away.
Skin a few poachers, and hang their carcass as a warning, the rest will think twice about entering that forest.
Orangutans of Borneo, Indonesia are beautiful great apes of the world and unique. This is also the reason why communities in this region, and some parts of Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Burma love the mythology Ramayana with its monkey-god Hanuman (with some historical information on homo erectus and its possible presence either in Central Asia or in the jungles of Southeast Asia). Theses are gorgeous animals, and are among the most intelligent of the primates. There is also species of Orangutans in Sumatra of Indonesia which is also endangered. The tropical forest of Borneo is as important to our global climate as is the Amazon.
Wikipedia does quote a study on Orangutan's intelligence. "A 2008 study of two orangutans at the Leipzig Zoo showed orangutans can use 'calculated reciprocity', which involves weighing the costs and benefits of gift exchanges and keeping track of these over time. Orangutans are the first nonhuman species documented to do so. Orangutans are very technically adept nest builders, making a new nest each evening in only in 5 to 6 minutes and choosing branches which they know can support their body weight".
I am so glad Thailand is doing something about this. Thailand has also rich diversity of tropical plants and animals.
Khapunkaah!
The average orangutan has an IQ of 80. That makes them smarter than some people I know. Also, obviously, some of the posters on this thread.
You can obtain anything on the black market. Apes, slaves, drugs, guns, enriched uranium, you name it. If someone wants something bad enough & has the cash, then someone will obtain it for them. You'll never eliminate that.
So sad. Sometimes I'm ashamed to be a member of the human race. This is one of those times.
Certainly hope this is the only instance, and they can keep it from happening.
"400 PER CENT MORE"
Who is editing this news source?
No wonder kids are illiterate. The media has a duty to read their own article before publishing.
And, this just in, Obama was heard saying, "If I had a son, he would look just like an orangutan".
I pity you for your lame irrelevant political point.
If only the apes, chimpanzees, and orangutans had assault weapons.
Disappointing article, I thought it was going to be about Buba in Chicago.