The Taiping Four should return to Cameroon

December 19, 2003

I have been following with concern the saga of the Taiping four gorillas. I would like to commend the International Primate Protection League for its tenacity without which the gorillas would now be settled in an Asian zoo, to be followed maybe by other gorillas. Thankfully the whistle was blown on the "scam" that brought four baby gorillas into international trade. As you may recall, the gorillas were smuggled from Cameroon to Nigeria and exported on fraudulent captive-born documents, via South Africa, to Taiping Zoo, Malaysia.

I am sickened that the Government of Malaysia has decided that the gorillas should go to South Africa. Why South Africa, which has no native gorillas, rather than Limbe Wildlife Center, which is based in Cameroon, which has native gorillas?

The zoo set to receive the gorillas, Pretoria, has only one elderly male gorilla, five other gorillas having died. Limbe cares for a thriving healthy gorilla group used as the core animals for an educational program to teach the people of Cameroon to cherish animals. It doesn't matter that much if people in the United States, Canada, Europe or South Africa care about gorillas, because the African nations with wild gorillas are their custodians.

I understand that an official of the Government of South Africa made a phone call to the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species claiming that the Government of Cameroon had agreed in a phone call that the gorillas should go to South Africa. The Cameroonian official who reportedly made this agreement has denied AGAIN AND AGAIN, that he made any such concession.

It is possible that an unclear phone line caused the South African official to believe that Cameroon was happy about the gorillas going to Pretoria. In any case, a report of a phone-call doesn't have any legal significance in the absence of legally binding documents.

It is not fair to Cameroon that official inter-governmental requests from its Minister of the Environment, Mr. Tanji Mbianyor, and other officials charged with wildlife protection, should be ignored.

Please send two e-mails to South Africa immediately requesting that, since it is clear that the Government of Cameroon wishes the gorillas smuggled out of the country returned, South Africa should gracefully defer to Cameroon's wishes and assist in the repatriation of the gorillas to Cameroon:

1. Francois Rogers, Acting Head of the Ministry of the Environment E-mail:frogers@iafrica.com
2. Sonja Meintjes, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism smeintjes@ozone.pwv.gov.za

Please contact the Chief of Malaysia's Wildlife Department requesting that Malaysia return the gorillas to Cameroon rather than to a country which has no wild gorillas and no success in long-term care of a gorilla colony.

Musa Nordin, Director General, Department of Wildlife and National Parks Email:musa@wildlife.gov.my

Let's support the Government of Cameroon and the gorillas and the African sanctuary movement.

Jean Martin
Canadian Primate Rescue
Vancouver Island, Canada

Dr. Shirley McGreal, Chairwoman
International Primate Protection League
PO Box 766
Summerville, SC 29484, USA
Phone - 843-871-2280, Fax- 843-871-7988
E-mail - smcgreal@ippl.org, Web: www.ippl.org