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Gorillas are listed in Appendix I of the Convention on Interna-
tional Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES). As such, international trade for commercial purposes
is prohibited. CITES is a trade-related convention, and sub-
sequently, does not address many of the threats faced by this
species, such as habitat loss, disease, conflict with humans or
domestic consumption of gorilla meat. Consequently, the pri-
mary role for CITES in supporting the conservation of gorillas
is in combating illegal cross-border movement of either live
animals or their parts or derivatives. Whilst some international
trade is suspected to take place in gorilla meat or body parts,
this appears to be very limited and seems to take place between
neighbouring gorilla range states, as opposed to the often inter-
continental trade that affects many CITES-listed species.
At the international level, trade in gorillas has primarily been
driven by zoos, or facilities describing themselves as zoos, and
persons who own private collections of rare species. Destina-
tions for such trade have included South East Asia and the
ORGANIZED ILLEGAL TRADE IN LIVE
GORILLAS
Middle East. Since the smuggling of gorillas is, understandably,
difficult, because of their size, weight and tendency for violence
towards humans, it usually involves juvenile specimens. Re-
moving juvenile gorillas from the wild invariably necessitates
the killing of their mothers, and perhaps other members of the
family group, and is, thus, particularly destructive to the spe-
cies as a whole. Several juvenile lowland gorillas not native to
the Virungas, for example, have been confiscated from the local
population and kept at an emergency sanctuary constructed at
VNP headquarters, suggesting that this trade is absolutely real.
Regrettably, some of the cases of gorilla smuggling that have
attracted widespread notice, have also involved the deliberate
circumvention of CITES controls by zoological institutes and
the corruption of national CITES officials; the very places and
persons who should be working to protect such animals.
In late 2006, the CITES Great Ape Enforcement Task Force
was established. It brought together representatives of great
ape range states in Africa and Asia, together with the GRASP
and CITES Secretariats, INTERPOL, the Lusaka Agreement
Task Force, and the World Customs Organization (WCO). The
Task Force exchanged information about illegal trade and un-
dertook to obtain more.
Following the collation of intelligence relating to illegal trade in
great apes, the CITES Secretariat issued one of its Alerts on this
subject. CITES Alerts are distributed to the law enforcement
community and provide intelligence to help target smugglers
and supply information relating to concealment techniques,
smuggling routes, illicit dealers, etc. The Task Force recognized
that since ownership of primates as pets is not uncommon in
many parts of the world, apes may be moved across borders,
within sight of border control officers and Customs officers,
who fail to realize that anything illegal is taking place. Assisted
by NGOs who work in the area of primate conservation, the
Task Force distributed posters, for display at borders and in
A great number of primates captured for trade die, even if they
are rescued. Estimates suggest that for every chimpanzee, go-
rilla or bonobo entering the pet trade, 10–50 more will have died
in hunting camps or en route to cities (IFAW & BCTF, 2003).
Redmond (2002a) used a multiplier of 15 gorillas removed
from the population for each infant that reaches competent
care, based on the 80 per cent mortality of infants arriving at
the Brazzaville gorilla orphanage prior to 1989, when improved
veterinary care lowered this rate, and at least two adults being
killed for each infant – thus: (1infant+2adults)x5=15 gorillas,
one alive and 14 dead. This means that the six gorillas report-
ed to have been held by Ibadan Zoo prior to shipment of the
Taiping Four probably represented 84 dead gorillas, and 90
lost to the wild population. (Ape Alliance, WSPA, 2006)