CITES Standing Committee Meets in Geneva

Recommends Nigerian Wildlife Trade Embargo
August 2005

The Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) met in Geneva, Switzerland, from 27 June to 1 July 2005. The Standing Committee consists of elected representatives from each CITES region and carries out the business of the Convention between the biennial general conferences.

One of the more welcome outcomes of this meeting was a recommendation by the Standing Committee, "with immediate effect," for the international community to suspend trade in endangered plant and animal species with Nigeria. According to an announcement that appeared on the CITES Web site (www.cites.org) in July, all signatory countries to the CITES treaty "should refuse any import from and export or re-export to Nigeria of specimens of CITES-listed species."

These trade sanctions were proposed because of Nigeria’s persistent failure to implement safeguards against international trafficking in endangered species (including primates) occurring across its borders. Other countries that have recently been home to scandals in illegal primate trade, like Cambodia or Saudi Arabia, could likewise be on the receiving end of CITES sanctions if they do not take steps to improve their nations’ wildlife law enforcement.

Standing Committee discusses problems in primate trade

Unfortunately, primates continue to be a focus of international traffickers. Two nations (among others) with an especially disturbing record concerning primate trade include Nigeria and Cambodia:

1. The Nigerian Connection
   For many years Nigeria has been notorious for its "scams" and corruption, including flagrant trafficking in wildlife smuggled into Nigeria from its neighboring countries, including Cameroon. Three of the most appalling cases on which IPPL has worked are:
   • September 2001: Officials at Cairo Airport confiscated a baby gorilla and baby orangutan from a woman passenger who was carrying them on an EgyptAir flight. The infant animals had been smuggled out of Nigeria and airport veterinarians in Cairo feared the primates might be carrying infectious diseases. They therefore drowned the animals in a container filled with chemicals because of the risk that contaminated blood could spill if they chose another method of "eliminating" the unfortunate primates. This atrocity was condemned worldwide, yet nobody was arrested in Egypt or Nigeria.
   • October 2001: IPPL received from a Middle Eastern zoo director a copy of a price-list being circulated by the Nigerian dealer Abduljubreel Odukoya. It offered four baby gorillas for sale at $1.6 million, as well as chimpanzees, mandrills, and other endangered wildlife.
   • March 2002: IPPL learned in March 2002 that four young gorillas had reached the Taiping Zoo, Malaysia, in January 2002. They had traveled via Johannesburg on South African Airways. South African veterinary authorities had issued permits for the animals’ transit. The animals were exported from Nigeria on documents falsely claiming that they had been born at Ibadan Zoo, which, at that time, had only one female gorilla and no males.

   In October 2002 IPPL Chairwoman Shirley McGreal and Ian Redmond, Chairman of the Great Ape Survival Project (GRASP), held several meetings with Dr. Imeh Okopido, Nigeria’s then-Minister of State for the Environment. Okopido promised to talk with President Olasegun Obasanjo of Nigeria about the establishment of a commission to investigate Nigeria’s wildlife trafficking.

   Dr. Okopido stuck to his promise and provided IPPL with a copy of the "Report of the Administrative Panel of Inquiry to Investigate the Illegal Trade/Smuggling of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora into and out of Nigeria."

   The commission recommended that several people be prosecuted and dismissed from their government positions, including Dr. Dora Olufunmilola Akinboye, former director of Ibadan Zoo; Professor Mathew Ofierherhe Akusu, the veterinarian who had signed the health certificates for the baby gorillas; Alhaji Lateef Olofinjana Suberu, who had worked for the CITES Office at the Ministry of the Environment’s Lagos office; Engineer D. B. Usman, who signed the CITES permit for the gorillas; and the wildlife smuggler Abduljubreel (Tunde) Odukoya, as well as several others. The Panel also learned that six baby gorillas slated for export had died before shipment.

   Unfortunately, to the best of IPPL’s knowledge, no follow-up action has been taken against any of these individuals, and the trafficking of wildlife out of Nigeria has continued. In a report presented at the recent Standing Committee meeting, the CITES Secretariat reported further details:

   In early February 2005, the Secretariat became aware of an incident regarding illicit trade in primates involving Nigeria. It appears that live animals, including six chimpanzees, were smuggled out of the country. The animals were subsequently seized in Kenya. An investigation is apparently underway but it is of concern that such a significant number of Appendix-I listed species could apparently leave the country undetected. This appears to illustrate that border controls continue to be inadequate. However, the Secretariat awaits full details of the incident and subsequent investigation...

   At the time of writing (April 2005), the Secretariat had not received any recent report from Nigeria on its progress in implementing the action plan. This causes the Secretariat considerable concern, since the plan envisaged, among other elements, that deployment of specialized staff to ports would take place by late 2003; that training of relevant staff would take place by early 2004; that workshops for Customs and police would be held by early 2004; and that drafting of legislation would be completed by late 2004.

2. : The Cambodian Connection The December 2004 issue of IPPL News carried a story about a huge theme park located on the island of Koh Kong, Cambodia. The park, named Safari World, is just 200 meters from the Thailand-Cambodia border. The park has a large collection of animals and features performing animal shows, including orangutan "kick-boxing" shows designed to amuse visitors from Thailand. The park is associated with the huge Koh Kong International Resort. The resort’s Website (http://www.kohkonginter.com) advertises "Thai massage" and a casino.

   Visitors have reported to IPPL that Safari World-Cambodia holds at least 30 orangutans. The animals were probably smuggled into Cambodia from Indonesia, possibly with an intermediate stop in Thailand. A Thai facility also named Safari World was found in possession of over 100 orangutans (see "The Safari World Orangutan Scandal" in the August 2004 issue of IPPL News).

   Cambodian wildlife authorities have confirmed to IPPL that no import permits were issued for orangutans by the authority charged with issuing permits, which is the Cambodian CITES Management Authority. Clearly the shipment(s) of orangutans into Cambodia were in flagrant violation of CITES.

   IPPL learned that the operators of the safari park have high-level positions in Cambodian society (some are reportedly Thai nationals who have procured Cambodian nationality). One such person paid for construction of the bridge linking Thailand to Koh Kong Island.

   The CITES Secretariat commented on the Cambodian situation:
   In late 2004, the Secretariat received information from a non-governmental organization of an alleged illegal import to Cambodia of several specimens of Pongo pygmaeus (orangutan). It was suspected that these animals had subsequently been received by a zoo or safari-type facility, primarily for public entertainment purposes. The Secretariat requested the CITES Management Authority of Cambodia to investigate this allegation. A similar request was passed via Interpol channels, since it was alleged that the import might have been authorized by a government agency of Cambodia, although not the CITES authority...

   The Secretariat understands that an investigation has been conducted by the CITES authorities in Cambodia but it is awaiting news of the result. The Secretariat has recently been advised, by a separate source, that the number of animals involved may exceed 30. This is clearly a very serious incident of illicit trade and the Secretariat hopes to provide further information orally to the Standing Committee. If no progress report has been received, the Secretariat is likely to make a recommendation to the Committee regarding this matter.

   CITES lacks information to act

   In other business discussed at the meeting of the Standing Committee, the CITES Secretariat noted with regret that many countries had not provided it with the names of their national contacts (especially the Customs and police officials) for wildlife law enforcement matters. Although the Secretariat had in December 2004 circulated a prepared form to the 160+ CITES parties to facilitate their cooperation, only 18 nations had submitted names by the time the report for the Standing Committee was written in April 2005. The Secretariat’s report on law enforcement included these comments:
   The CITES Enforcement Expert Group identified the lack of readilyavailable enforcement authority contact details as one of the primary reasons why the exchange of information, the collaboration between enforcement agencies and the coordination of crossborder investigations continue to be a major problem for the Convention...

   The Secretariat wishes to emphasize that Customs officers are often required to use only Customs contact points and the police are often required to use only police (or other national law enforcement agency) contact points. It is not necessarily easy for Customs or police agencies to readily access contact information for their counterparts around the world. Having the contact details for such agencies in every Party available on the CITES website would be of considerable assistance.