By Matt McGrath Environment
correspondent, Johannesburg
A new database suggests say there
has been a dramatic under-reporting of the live, illegal trade in great apes.
Around 1,800 orangutans,
chimpanzees and gorillas were seized in 23 different countries since 2005, the
figures show.
Since 90% of the cases were
within national borders they didn't appear in major data records, which only
contain international seizures.
Records incomplete
Comprehensive data on the illicit
trade in great apes is rare.
The Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) only keeps records of international
seizures, which experts in the field have long believed was giving a misleading
impression.
The new Apes Seizures Database
paints a more detailed picture, compiling figures for any seizure of a great
ape in an unlawful situation dating back to 2005.
"It's definitely a
staggering number, it's larger than we expected," said Doug Cress from the
Great Ape Survival Partnership, who have put together the new database.
"We're finding that it's
really averaging about two seizures a week around the world. That may seem
small but the usual ratio for a chimpanzee is that to get one alive you've had
to kill five or 10, for gorillas it's like four to one.
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