47 Million Dollars worth of Exotic Species Smuggled from Colombia
12/3/97
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Headline: 47 Million Dollars worth of Exotic Species Smuggled from
Colombia
Source: Associated Press
Date: 12/3/97
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - Animal traffickers smuggle $47 million
worth of exotic and endangered species annually from Colombia's
Amazon region, damaging its delicate ecological balance, the
environment minister said Thursday.
Every year about 7 million animals, mostly reptiles, are taken
from the lush jungles of southern Colombia and illegally smuggled
to the United States and Europe, often under inhumane conditions.
``For every animal that arrives at its destination alive, nine
will die during transport,'' Environment Minister Eduardo Verano de
la Rosa told The Associated Press. Some animals, sold for their
skins, are killed before they are shipped.
There also is evidence of an alliance between animal traffickers
and much-wealthier drug smugglers. Authorities have found cocaine
hidden in some seized shipments of exotic reptiles.
The business can be very lucrative. A macaw, an endangered
species, can be bought in the Amazon for about $20 and fetches
between $7,000 and $10,000 in New York.
Verano de la Rosa said if the illegal trade is not halted, the
brightly-colored macaw could disappear within five years. Other
species are also in danger.
The business flourishes because of lax laws and a lack of
international cooperation in fighting the problem, he said.