Japan is Haven for Smugglers of Endangered Wild Animals
9/22/99
*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Japan is Haven for Smugglers of Endangered Wild Animals
Source: The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: September 22, 1999
Byline: Kakuya Ishida
The arrest of five people from May to July in Osaka on charges
related to the smuggling of rare wild animals stands in stark
contrast to the fact that many unscrupulous traders remain at large
in Japan. The traders remain in business due mostly to the slack
enforcement of relevant laws, a lack of strict checks at airports and
the relative ease with which it is possible to open a pet shop. The
Osaka case, which involved the confiscation of four baby orangutans,
currently being housed at the Oji Zoo in Kobe, drew particular
attention after the Indonesian government requested the animals'
return. This has been delayed as the government is unsure of how to
proceed because there is no precedent to such a request.
The Osaka case is the first involving the smuggling of endangered
species to be made public since the law was enacted in 1993, in line
with the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. The terms and conditions under
which the animals should be sent back to Indonesia are still under
consideration by the International Trade and Industry Ministry and
the Environment Agency.
Nongovernmental organizations are demanding that guidelines be
established to cover the confiscation, protection and return of
illegally imported animals to their country of origin. In late May,
the owner and manager of a pet shop in Osaka were arrested and police
confiscated several animals, including a puma, a serval wildcat and a
caiman crocodile. The four orangutans were found and confiscated by
police June 1 at a condominium belonging to a former employee of the
pet shop. The primates are all between 1 and 2 years old and should
still be nursing. However, according to police, the suspects had been
feeding them instant noodles and candy.
The pet shop had allegedly attempted to smuggle a total of 12 apes of
six different species, including orangutans and gibbons, from
Indonesia. Of them, six died either during transit or in Japan.
Under the Washington convention, orangutans and gibbons are
classified as species threatened with extinction, which means a
blanket ban on commercial trade in them.
Two brokers allegedly responsible for smuggling the apes were
arrested in July. According to police, the orangutans were obtained
through the black market in Indonesia, before being drugged and
carried on board a plane in carry-on luggage. The animals passed
through the customs department at Kansai International Airport
without being recognized as illegal imports.
The quarantine department at the airport does not currently test apes
imported into Japan. The only checks are made by customs officers,
who look at the certificates of export, issued by the relevant
authorities in the originating country, and import, issued by MITI,
and decide whether the animal falls into a category covered by the
Washington convention.
However, one of the alleged smugglers arrested in July, who brought
in orangutans in a wooden cage, told police that he passed through
customs without a hitch. He said customs officers looked at the
animals through the bars of the cage and asked him what species they
were while trying to find a match in an illustrated guidebook. When
the suspect answered that they were "just normal monkeys," the
officials allowed him to pass.
According to an official at the Customs and Tariff Bureau of the
Finance Ministry, "The customs officers should not have overlooked
this case, despite the suspect's claim." The bureau stations some
specialists at airports to conduct checks. "But there are not enough
of them, so the inspection system is limited," the official added.
Business as usual.
The pet shop reopened the day after the owner's arrest and continued
to draw hordes of so-called animal lovers. According to police, the
shop registered monthly sales of between 23 million yen and 37
million yen from January through April, and spent an average of about
6 million yen per month purchasing rare animals, on which it can make
a considerable profit. The suspects used orangutans dressed in gaudy
outfits to attract customers to the shop.
Fusako Nogami, representative of a Tokyo-based NGO for the prevention
of cruelty to animals, was severely critical of the trend when she
spoke at a Sept. 12 meeting of NGOs that was organized to urge the
eradication of the illegal trade. The meeting was also attended by an
official from the Environment Agency.
"Japan does have a law to control the animal trade, but it does not
carry a strict enough penalty. It is possible the pet shop owner will
be released and told to pay a small fine," Nogami said. "The Osaka
case is just the tip of the iceberg. If police begin to expose these
cases, determined traders will go underground to evade the crackdown.
The government should take stricter measures, such as introducing a
license that can be revoked if the holder is found to be involved in
illegal trading.
"We would also like members of the public who buy rare animals to
realize that they are responsible for helping the smuggling business
to develop, which will eventually lead to the extinction of some
animals. To put an end to the illegal trade, it is first important to
change consumer consciousness," she added.
According to MITI, the number of animals and animal products, such as
ivory and tortoiseshell, that were legally imported into Japan in
1996 under the Washington convention came to about 36,000 units. Of
them, about 8,600, or 24 percent, were living animals.
The number of tortoises legally imported into Japan in 1996 was
29,051, or 54 percent of the world total. The figure for birds was
136,179, or 42.5 percent of the world total. Apes stood at 5,374, or
21.6 percent, the second-largest figure after the 35.8 percent
registered by the United States. In the same year, the number of
orangutans in Indonesia decreased to about 36,000 due to
deforestation, widespread forest fires and illegal trading, prompting
the Indonesian government to impose strict penalties on the illegal
export of the species.
Time to make smugglers pay.
Since the enforcement of the law in 1993, more than 8,000 animals
have been found to be illegally imported into Japan. However, in none
of the cases have smugglers have been forced to pay for the return of
the animals to their native habitats. In most cases, the cost has
been shouldered by the government of the country from where the
animal originated or by a generous airline.
Most of the animals confiscated from smugglers have died because of
inadequate care, as most zoos are reluctant to look after them since
they receive no compensation from the government. The orangutans
confiscated from the Osaka pet store are being looked after only
because of the good will of the people at Oji Zoo.
The issue is further complicated by problems of programs for
returning the animals to the wild. According to Akira Suzuki from
the Kyoto University Primate Research Institute: "There are three
rehabilitation centers in Indonesia to help orangutans return to the
wild, but because of limited budgets, the local staff are unable to
provide a sufficient level of care. Sending the animals back to their
homeland is not the end of the problem because once they have become
accustomed to being looked after by humans, it is more difficult for
them to return to the wild."
Hitoshi Takahashi of the Environment Agency's wildlife division said,
"It will take a little longer to reach a solution on how to deal with
the return of the orangutans."
Nogami concluded: "The government should take a firm stand and force
importers to pay for the return of endangered species to their native
country, but serious consideration must also be given to the ecology
of the place and the timing of the animals' return."