NEWS

ACRES IN THE NEWS
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The New Paper
5 November 2003

This is not food!
by Teh Jen Lee

Some people will eat anything. And for that some, rare and defenceless animals must die a cruel and painful death.

Take the consignment of 12 cartons of so-called plastic sheets that arrived at Changi Airport from Jakarta on Oct 22.

It contained 34 pangolins (scaly anteaters) wrapped in netting and cramped into tiny boxes.

Some were only one-third their weight and have been starved for weeks.

So many were dying that 30 of them were put down.

In this case, the pangolins were found two weeks ago simply because suspicions were roused when an airport services staff member noticed noises coming from one of the styrofoam boxes.

Also, although they were headed for a local company, they did not have any legal documents.

The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) was informed.

Miss Lye Fong Keng, head of AVA’s wildlife regulatory branch, said the pangolins were worth $3,500.

"Pangolins are traded in East Asian countries for their scales, skin and exotic meat. The 34 pangolins are believed to have been destined for the cooking pot," she said.

The AVA did not give details of the company as it is investigating.

Of the four pangolins that Singapore Zoo keepers tried to keep alive, three died within a couple of days.

Quarantine officer Saskia Lafebre said stress is a major factor leading to death.

"They were very dehydrated and emaciated. It’s possible that they were not fed for weeks. Those collected first were probably stashed away until they had enough to export, which is why some of them were so skinny," she said.

The pangolins were two-thirds or even one-third of their normal weight, said veterinary keeper Debbie Ng.

The keepers sought advice from a Taiwan zoo that has bred pangolin about what food to give.

Now, they are trying to get the sole survivor to take to a protein-rich mixture of meat, meal worms, silkworm larva powder and vitamins.

Ms Ng said: "Since it eats only at night, we put the food out before we go home and hope some of it is gone in the morning. We can’t do much else."

Pangolins are hunted quite easily as they are shy and solitary creatures whose first instinct is to run and hide in a hole.

But then, they are either dug out or cruelly suffocated by the burning of chillis at the entrance of the burrows.

Hunting and habitat destruction has contributed to the endangered status of the four species of pangolins worldwide.

Pangolins are listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), which means international trade is regulated with permits.

Under the Endangered Species (Import and Export) Act, which was gazetted in 1989, Cites permits from AVA are required for the import and export of pangolins.

However, there is currently a global ban on international trade in wild pangolins, said Miss Lye.

Anyone who smuggles endangered species is liable to be prosecuted in court, fined a maximum of $5,000 per species ($10,000 for repeat offences) and/or jailed for one year.

But it does not deter some.

In March, AVA seized 58kg of frozen wild-animal meat from a Jurong warehouse.

The meat of monkey, civet cats, bats and snakes were found in a cold room with pork, pig intestines, mutton and frog legs.

Technician Lim Thiam Hock was sentenced to six months’ jail and fined $10,000 for importing the meat from Malaysia without a licence.

He had hoped to sell it here.

Animal welfare groups have renewed their call for harsher penalties in view of recent cases of possession and importation of endangered wildlife.

CHANGE THE LAW?

This lone monkey from South Africa is aptly named Blue.

He has been in the zoo’s quarantine area for more than five months since being confiscated from its owner by AVA.

Although he is fed three times a day and keepers try to spend time as often as possible with the social animal, he is far from his own kind. He can’t be sent home partly because his former owner does not have to pay the cost of repatriation.

The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) feels that offenders should always bear the cost of housing and returning confiscated animals.

In addition, president Louis Ng said: "There is a very big loophole in the law on endangered animals - it’s on a per species basis - so smugglers can bring in lots of animals as long as they are from one species, like the 1,000 star tortoises seized last year. It would be a greater deterrent if the law is changed to a per animal basis."

AVA said the review of the Endangered Species Act is an on-going exercise.

Three other animal welfare groups feel that the penalty for smuggling endangered animals is insufficient to deter smugglers.

Ms Vadivu Govind, president of AnimalWatch, gave the example of how the smuggler involved in a six-tonne ivory seizure worth millions was fined the maximum of $5,000 last year.

She said, "That is a paltry sum if you are involved in the wildlife trade business, which is the third largest illegal trade in the world, after drugs and firearms.

"While Singapore has strict laws for drug trafficking, our laws and enforcement on wildlife smuggling pale in comparison with those laws.

"African rhino horn is worth as much as US$10,000 ($17,500) per kg and the rarer Asian rhino horn is valued at US$60,000 per kg.

"If one is involved in the trade, then you do not want the fine to be small that the trader can just write it off as part of costs of doing the trade."

WildAid coordinator Victor Wu said the authorities need to send a clear message that they are serious about clamping down.

For example, in 1993 China sentenced at least three people to death after they were caught with nearly one tonne of black rhino horn.

HARSHER PENALTIES

While he is not advocating the death sentence, he said harsher penalties involving longer jail terms and higher fines are necessary to deter repeat offenders.

Ms Deirdre Moss, the executive director of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, feels that the penalties should take into account the suffering of the animals being smuggled.

Besides being punished for illegally importing endangered species, those who flout the law should also be charged under the Animals and Birds Act for cruelty and face a maximum fine of $10,000 and a jail term of one year.

She said: "The public’s desire to own exotics is more common than we think and people are willing to take the risk. The penalties should be upped because the cases reported could be just the tip of the iceberg."

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