Stolen Apes

CONCLUSION: PROTECTING GREAT APES – CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES Unless the ban on illegal trade of wildlife is enforced according to the CITES Conven- tion, it is likely to continue unchecked. Indeed, action is required by CITES, the Par- ties to the Convention, the national and international law enforcement community, as well as national prosecutors if wildlife trafficking is to be tackled effectively. Currently, seizures are predominantly made at customs check points or when arranged by NGOs, and because enforcement mechanisms are not in place anywhere else along the trade chain, these seizures have proven to be ineffective in combating the trade.

Enforcement on the ground

Customs and anti-smuggling

Generally speaking, apes are captured in traps, through the use of drugged darts, poisoned bait, or traditional hunt- ing methods. Apes are also captured while they raid crops, and infants are sometimes captured by hunters looking for bushmeat. Because these activities are so dispersed, patrols intending to encounter and arrest poachers are unlikely to be successful, although they can act as monitoring of the activi- ties that threaten great apes, such as logging, mining, and the setting of fires and traps. There are however traditional anti-poaching tactics that can be applied. When trappers carry out reconnaissance, set or check traps, and transport the live apes, they tend to leave behind trail signs, often leading from the trap directly to the suspect. Fol- lowing these signs can help to uncover the identity of the buy- ers and traffickers, either through police questioning or, more effectively, through surveillance. It is also important for law enforcement efforts to focus on the sale of apes in markets, streets, on the Internet, or through or- ganized wildlife traffickers.

As the transportation of live wildlife is far more complex than the smuggling of drugs, ivory or rhino horn, the chances of interception are much higher. The most appropriate option is for national customs authorities to establish special anti- smuggling units that work in cooperation with criminal intel- ligence units, to investigate all forms of contraband by inspect- ing non-commercial flights from smaller airstrips that are not subject to regular inspections. Similar units should be tasked with monitoring road traffic and river traffic, and to regularly inspect boats and vessels at major ports. Organized crime and investigation Because wildlife trafficking is a trans-boundary issue, a coher- ent international effort is needed in order to effectively address it. The ICCWC was launched in 2010 to meet this demand, and began by focusing on the illegal tiger trade ( see page 13 for more information on the ICCWC ).

Indeed, a structure to combat illegal wildlife trade is, in princi- ple, no different from the one needed to combat any other form

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