Stolen Apes

Chimpanzees in a Box

In February 2005, customs officials at the Nairobi airport seized a large crate labelled 'dogs’ that had arrived from Egypt. Inside they found six chimpanzees and four monkeys stuffed into tiny compartments. The crate had been refused by Egyptian authorities at the Cairo airport due to insufficient permits, and the woman accompanying the crate returned to Nigeria without her luggage. Although one of the chimpanzees died almost immediately from hunger and thirst, the rest were sent to a sanctuary in Kenya.

Apes and Drugs

In January 2006, a drug dealer was arrested in Cameroon. In the boot of his car, officials discovered 50 kilograms of marijuana and a baby chimpanzee wedged between the sacks. The dealer was also found to be in possession of cocaine, and admitted that he had been regularly trading other protected primates, and employed at least five poachers.

2005

2006

Bonobo in a Handbag

In December 2005, two travellers in possession of Russian pass- ports – a Ukrainian and his Congolese companion – boarded an Air France flight from Kinshasa bound for Russia carrying an infant bonobo in a handbag. Air France officials accepted their permit from the DR Congo Ministry of Agriculture as valid, and it was not until a wildlife activist on the plane reported the couple that the ape was confiscated. Airport authorities at first intended to euthanize the bonobo for fear of Ebola or other deadly diseases, but arrangements were made instead to send the bonobo to a sanctuary in DR Congo. The travellers, meanwhile, continued their journey to Russia without delay or questioning. Passenger records indicated that they were frequent travellers on the Moscow-Kinshasa route; suggesting that this kind of traffic was a common occurrence.

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