Organized crime groups are behind the increased trafficking in great apes - which include gorillas, bonobos, chimpanzees, and orangutans-out of West and Central Africa, according to a United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) report.The publication states that while great ape trafficking is not a new phenomenon, the scale of the problem merits increased international attention and a concerted response.
Accurately calculating the impact of smuggling on great ape populations is nearly impossible. Conservative estimates by UNEP that 50 percent of smuggled live apes and ape parts are confiscated would indicate that about 3,174 great apes are lost to the illicit trade yearly.
The effects of the great ape trade go beyond the ramifications to great apes themselves and the risk of species extinction. The nature of the smuggling also breeds corruption, as officials are bribed to allow passage through borders. The trade itself involves a complex network of small-scale local traffickers, large-scale international traffickers, and “a system of corruption and complicity” at an international level that allows smugglers to operate with “relative impunity,” Ofir Drori, founder of the Last Great Ape Organization, said in the UNEP report. The illicit trade in great apes also hurts the economies of source nations as it damages the tourism industry, a key source of income for much of West and Central Africa.
The UNEP report highlights Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia as the prime markets for the illegal trade, with nations including Egypt, Turkey, South Africa, and Indonesia playing key roles as transit countries for traffickers. Smugglers of trophies or great ape meats utilize a combination of land and sea transport, whereas traffickers of live apes, which are much more difficult to transport through land or sea routes, most commonly utilize air transit to reach their destinations as quickly as possible. In all of these cases bribes, kickbacks, and complicity on the part of customs and border officials are rampant.
The smuggling of great apes mirrors a sharp rise in elephant and rhino poaching in recent years. In July 2012, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) reported that elephant poaching and ivory smuggling was at its highest rate in a decade, and that the situation represented the most serious crisis since the ivory trade was banned in 1989. Kenyan authorities confiscated the largest amount of ivory in the nation’s history in January 2013. The two tons of ivory, worth over $1.15 million, illustrates the fears voiced by UNEP and CITES on the growing threat of the illegal trade in animals and goods protected by international law.
The UNEP great ape report also includes a number of recommendations on more effectively tackling the smuggling. Greater enforcement is strongly stressed throughout the document as a necessity; investigation of suspects and the prosecution of offenders to the fullest extent of the applicable law needs to be improved, according to the report.
Further recommendations include emphasizing inspections for both imports and exports, and the strengthening of anti-corruption measures within law enforcement. Finally, UNEP recommends tackling demand for great apes, through a combination of public outreach using media outlets, targeting disreputable zoos, and DNA testing and tagging of confiscated great apes.