The "Taiping Four" Gorilla Deal

April 2002

IPPL has learned that four young gorillas, one male and three females, arrived at Taiping Zoo, Malaysia, in January 2002. We shall call these gorillas "The Taiping Four."

IPPL immediately contacted Kevin Lazarus, Director of Taiping Zoo, for information regarding the importation.

Zoo's explanation

In an e-mail message to IPPL dated 17 April 2002, Mr. Lazarus stated,

The gorillas at Taiping Zoo are from a zoo in Nigeria with which we have an exchange program and are part of that exchange program...we feel that there should be a good stable group of gorillas in Southeast Asia as there is none at the moment. It will help in captive breeding of these animals. It will also be good for education as well as to create awareness about the need for conservation, the realities of bushmeat trade, etc.

IPPL finds this explanation unsatisfactory. There is no need for Asian zoos to procure and breed gorillas. Unfortunately five of six gorillas sent by European zoos to Singapore Zoo died due to infection by a ground pathogen prevalent in Southeast Asia (pseudomonas pseudomallei). The surviving gorilla was returned to Europe and treated after IPPL contacted Rotterdam Zoo, which had supplied the second group of gorillas.

IPPL also believes that the Malaysian animals shipped to Nigeria might die.

It is unclear to IPPL how Taiping Zoo can provide education about the bushmeat trade by buying gorillas whose mothers were probably eaten.

Origin of the Gorillas

The animals were shipped out of Nigeria. However, the deal would be equally suspect if the gorillas had left any African country.

The gorillas were certainly wild-caught, as there are no gorilla breeding colonies in Africa. This means that the gorillas' mothers were shot to bring them into captivity. No live mother gorilla would ever hand over her baby to a human, so she and other protective adults were certainly eliminated.

Sadly, many babies die before falling into the hands of animal traders. As many as 40 mother and baby gorillas may have died to obtain these four young gorillas.

CITES protects gorillas

Surprisingly, despite being a member of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) since 1978, Malaysia issued import permits for the gorillas.

IPPL is investigating a report that Nigerian authorities issued export permits based on false claims of captive birth at a zoo that only opened in September 2001. A recent visitor reported to IPPL that the zoo in question had two monkeys and no gorillas.

Gorillas are listed on Appendix I of CITES. Under CITES all commercial trade in Appendix I species is banned. In the rare cases of export of Appendix I species for non-commercial purposes, the exporting nation is required to attest that export of the animals is not detrimental to the survival of their species, and that the animals to be exported were legally acquired.

In the case of gorillas, such statements would be false. Gorillas are highly endangered all over Africa. Every wild gorilla is needed in his/her homeland. No African country officially allows gorilla hunting, although unfortunately it happens as logging opens up gorilla habitat.

Nigeria's gorillas

Nigeria has a tiny gorilla population located in Cross River State. These, and a small population in Western Cameroon, belong to a different sub-species, the Cross River gorilla, (scientific name gorilla gorilla diehli) than do most Western lowland gorillas (gorilla gorilla gorilla).

Primatologist Dr. John Oates has informed IPPL that the entire population of Cross River gorillas numbers around 200-250, and that the presence of observers in the small area of Nigeria inhabited by gorillas would make it almost impossible to kill or capture even one.

DNA analysis could help identify the true origin of the four gorillas. IPPL believes it likely that some or all were captured in neighboring Cameroon and has asked Taiping Zoo Director Lazarus about his willingness to provide blood for DNA testing. Such testing would probably reveal that the gorillas were not the Cross River sub-species and had been smuggling into Nigeria from another gorilla habitat country. No response has been received to this request.

On learning that there were four gorillas at Taiping Zoo, IPPL contacted the Malaysian Wildlife Department and provided information about the questionable origin of the animals.

In response, Ms. Khairiah Mohd. Sharif, Head of the Malaysian CITES Unit, which is part of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, informed IPPL that,

The department did issue import permits for the importation of gorillas for zoo purposes last year. In fact, the gorillas are already in Taiping Zoo. We are now taking steps to stop the importation of the other two gorillas.

We are now very concerned by what has been disclosed by you about the source of the gorillas. We will investigate further and will take the necessary action against the importer. We will keep you posted about this case. Thank you for your interest and information.

While IPPL is pleased to hear that an investigation is under way, we feel that such an investigation should have preceded the issuance of an import permit, rather than followed it.

It is also unclear whether the department considers the importer to be the animal dealing firm or the zoo.

Who supplied the gorillas?

There is no evidence that Mr. Jubreel B. Odukoya (see below) supplied the Taiping Zoo with gorillas. However, an IPPL volunteer found a listing of a Mr. Abduljubreel B. Odukoya on the website www.ghotek.com/wazobia/profdir.html

A company named "Nigerian Professional Services" (NPS) is listed, located in Penang, a city 100 miles from Taiping. The firm states that its purpose is to bring Nigerian nationals for professional employment in Malaysia.

The e-mail address listed on the site is now out of service and attempts to locate the company have failed.

IPPL is looking into reports that South African Airways may have carried the gorillas to Malaysia via Johannesburg some time between 18 and 21 January 2002.

LETTERS NEEDED Please contact the CITES Secretariat and ask that 1) the office investigate the "Taiping Four" gorilla transaction, and 2) it request all CITES member nations to make a thorough investigation of any application to import gorillas, chimpanzees, or any African primates. Mr. Willem Wijnstekers, Secretary-General, CITES International Environment House, Chemin des Anemones CH-1219 Chatelaine, Geneva, Switzerland E-mail willem.wijnstekers@unep.ch Please contact Malaysia's Minister of Science and the Malaysian embassy in the capital city of the country where you reside. Express your concern that, by issuing an import permit for wild-caught gorillas, Malaysia was not acting in the spirit of CITES. Express support for the ongoing investigation of all involved and note that you appreciate the permit for two more gorillas being canceled. Request that anyone who acted illegally be prosecuted. Express your concern that the gorillas were subjected to such a traumatic journey. Datuk Seri Law Hieng Ding, Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment, Tingkat 6, Blok C5 Pusat Pentadbiran Persekutian 62502 Putrakaya, Malaysia His Excellency the High Commissioner Embassy of Malaysia 2401 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington DC 20008 USA His Excellency the High Commissioner Malaysian High Commission 45 Belgrave Square London SW1X 8QT England Please contact the Nigerian Ambassador to the United States and the Nigerian High Commission in London to express your concern at the export of four gorillas from Nigeria to Malaysia. Ask them to investigate the international animal dealing activities of Mr. Jubreel B. Odukoya, who has been circulating a price-list that includes gorillas, chimpanzees, drills, all CITES Appendix I species. Request that Nigerian wildlife and customs officials inspect all departing wildlife shipments carefully. His Excellency the High Commissioner Nigerian High Commission Nigeria House 9 Northumberland Avenue London WC2N 5BX, United Kingdom His Excellency the Ambassador of Nigeria Embassy of Nigeria 1333 16th Street NW Washington, DC 20036, USA The Honorable Minister Federal Ministry of Environment P.M.B. 265 Garki, Abuja, Nigeria Postage from the United States for all these letters is US 80 cents per ounce. Please send IPPL copies of any replies you receive (IPPL, POB 766, Summerville SC 29484, USA or info@ippl.org). Our investigation is still in the preliminary stages, but we feel you should know about this problem and we hope that your letters will prevent more gorillas leaving Africa for zoos anywhere in the world.

Animal Dealer Offers Gorilla Babies

The price-list reproduced on this page was provided to IPPL by an ethical zoo director who wanted nothing to do with the sordid international trade in live wildlife.

There was no address on the letterhead, although "Odukoya" is a Nigerian name. The e-mail address on the price-list is no longer in service. A company located in Penang, Malaysia, headed by a Nigerian national of the same name, is also no longer operative (see preceding story).

The price requested for the "4 heads of baby gorillas" is US $1.6 million. With a bounty of nearly half a million dollars on her baby's head, no mother gorilla in Africa is safe - and no baby gorilla is safe.

There are no breeding colonies of gorillas in Nigeria. Any gorillas exported from Nigeria are almost certainly wild-caught either in Nigeria, which has less than 200 free-living gorillas, or in neighboring Cameroon. Gorillas are listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). All commercial trade in wild-caught gorillas is banned.

Odukoya offers baby chimps for US $50,000 each; baby mandrills for $125,000 each; and baby drills for $20,000 each. All these species are fully protected by CITES.