Freedoms denied. Great apes such as gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans are increasingly at risk of extinction due to the wild illegal trade. To raise the alarm again about their grave fate is directly the UN and beyond.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himFreedoms denied. Great apes such as gorillas, chimpanzees and orangutans are increasingly at risk of extinction due to wild illegal trade. To raise the alarm again about their grave fate is directly the UN and beyond.
With a pace of 3000 individuals every year they are torn from their habitats, such as Central Africa and Southeast Asia, to be exported to some countries in Asia and the Middle East (among the major countries involved we see Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, China, Thailand and Cambodia) due to the illegal trade,export to countries that use these animals as a commodity, attraction tourist or to come locked up in a zoo, private parks or even to be exhibited as a status symbol by wealthy individuals or even, as happens in some Asian countries, to be used in illegal fighting.
Il new relationship stilato dal programma “United Nations Environmental” (UNEP) e Great Apes Survival Partnership (GASP) parla di huge numbers but not enough, to really quantify the turnover around these barbarities.
The documentary "Stolen Apes - the illegal trade in chimpanzees, orangutans, bonobos, gorillas"Tells the story of 22 thousand specimens, for more than half chimpanzees, stolen from the forests and freedom.
This number, which may seem large, is calculated from confiscations, kidnappings, the frequency of arrival of orphans at sanctuaries in 12 African countries and rehabilitation centers in Indonesia, from the reports of anti-poaching and police and environmental protection teams collected. between 2005 and 2011.
It is actually an extrapolation made from the 643 chimpanzees, 48 bonobos, 98 gorillas and 1019 orangutans that were captured from their natural environment for illegal trade as live, dead or body parts.
It is therefore evident that these data are not real, but certainly underestimated because they do not take into account the trades not yet discovered by the police.
An orangutan is worth on the black market dollars 1000 and a gorilla up to 400 thousand.
GRASP coordinator Doug Cress says "Great apes are extremely important to forest health in Africa and Asia, and even the loss of 10 or 20 individuals at a time can have a profound impact on biodiversity."
Scientific research shows, in fact, how the big ones monkeys play an important role in the distribution of seeds throughout their forest homerange and therefore it is easy to understand how they play a fundamental role in the maintenance of wealth of biodiversity.
Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN agency for the environment, says: "The illegal capture of great apes is not a new phenomenon but the dimensions that emerge from these new data underline how important it is for the international community to strengthen vigilance. about".
All this must be strongly fought and stopped, it is necessary to make the reality of the problem known and to avoid behaviors that could incentivize such trade. From tourists refuse any kind of exploitation, do not participate in shows where animals are used, do not buy objects made using animal parts and from citizens participate in the dissemination of information and in the signature collection campaigns that animal welfare associations and the European Union make available.
Biodiversity is a good of humanity and the freedom of living beings who share 99% of our DNA with us, as non-animal rights activists, should strike our hearts even more.
KIA - Carmela Giambrone
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