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In Africa, the proliferation of logging and mining camps in ape
range areas has, in addition to rapidly growing towns and vil-
lages, fuelled extensive bushmeat markets. These same mar-
kets drive the direct killing of adult and juvenile apes and lead
to the capture of infants, which are then sold into the live trade.
Prices for great apes vary greatly. A poacher may sell a live
chimpanzee for USD 50-100, whereas the middleman will re-
sell that same chimpanzee at a mark-up of as much as 400 per
cent. Orangutans can fetch USD 1,000 at re-sale, and gorillas
illegally sold to a zoo in Malaysia in 2002 reportedly went for
USD 400,000 each. Such prices are extremely rare however,
and the poacher who captures a live specimen may lose it to
injuries, illness or stress, or have it confiscated if the poacher is
arrested. At best, the actual poachers may earn only a fraction
of the ultimate sale price of a great ape.
The primary offenders and profiteers of the live trade of apes
are criminals who transport great apes by plane, boat, or over
land by train and other types of vehicles. The large number of
air strips in the African bush, as well as smaller airports found
primarily near infrastructure or resource exploration projects,
allow smugglers to transport apes directly out on private cargo
planes, usually bypassing customs officials. Other smuggling
routes involve the ferrying of apes via boat or over land.
It is evident from this RRA as well as from previous reports from
the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of
Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and concerned non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) that the live trade in great apes and the
continued violations of the Convention must be taken seriously.
The fight against the trade must tackle both organized crime and
combat demand, while reducing bushmeat hunting associated
with logging, mining, or agricultural expansion. Conservation
and law enforcement efforts in protected areas are also crucial
for reducing the number of apes being caught.
This can only be done if CITES and national laws are enforced,
if the trans-boundary criminal networks involved are investi-
gated, if traffickers are arrested and prosecuted, if deterrent
sentences and punishment are enforced, and if markets for this
illegal trade are closed.