27 Jun
2006 - Bangkok, Thailand – Authorities in Thailand
confiscated an illegal shipment of 245 pangolins
and 64 freshwater turtles at Bangkok's Don Muang
Airport. The cargo had arrived onboard a Thai
Airways flight originating from Penang in Malaysia.
No arrests were made, but two Thai nationals are
currently being held for questioning.
"The Thai authorities deserve
a lot of credit for taking such swift and decisive
action," said James Compton, Regional Director
TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network,
a joint programme of WWF and IUCN–The World Conservation
Union. "It reflects the stronger commitment
by Thailand to stop the illegal wildlife trade
in its tracks."
The endangered animals were
concealed in 60 crates falsely declared as red-eared
sliders, an unprotected North American freshwater
turtle. The 63 black marsh turtles (Siebenrockiella
crassicollis) and one Malayan snail-eating turtle
(Malayemys subtrijuga), however, are listed on
Appendix II of the Convention of International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES). The listing means that the trade
in the species is legal only with a valid CITES
permit. The pangolins, however, although listed
on CITES Appendix II, are subject to what is known
as a zero quota, which means that all international
trade is illegal.
Pangolins (Manis javanica) are
protected in Thailand and Malaysia, but remain
widely used in traditional Asian medicine. Thailand
has become a major transit hub for pangolins smuggled
from Malaysia and Indonesia en route to Laos,
Vietnam and China. In Thailand, trading in protected
species carries a penalty of up to four years
in prison and/or Thai Baht 40,000 (US$1,000).
Southeast Asia is a global hotspot
for the illegal wildlife trade due to the region's
rich biodiversity, extensive transport links and
trade routes, high local demand, and low public
awareness of conservation.
To combat the illegal trade
several Southeast Asian countries have established
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Wildlife
Law Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN), an initiative
designed to promote inter-agency and international
cooperation to combat the illegal wildlife trade.
The network is targeting wildlife crime syndicates
by promoting intelligence sharing and cross-border
operations. As part of the network, Thai police,
customs and environmental officials have joined
hands to boost coordination in investigating and
preventing wildlife crimes.
"This [recent seizure]
is an important and successful example of cooperation
between different agencies and NGOs," said
Dr Schwann Tunhikorn, Deputy Director of Thailand's
National Parks Wildlife and Plants Department.
"This type of cooperation
will improve our efforts to curb the illegal wildlife
trade and it is exactly the spirit of ASEAN-WEN."
END NOTES:
• The Convention on International
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora (CITES) regulates international trade in
more than 30,000 species of wild animals and plants
through a system of certificates and permits.
The Convention is currently applied in 169 nations,
including all 10 ASEAN Member Countries — Brunei
Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam.
• ASEAN Member Countries have
developed a regional action plan on trade in wild
fauna and flora (2005–2010), which was endorsed
at the ASEAN ministerial level in September 2005.
Thailand was given the lead to develop part of
the plan that relates to improved regional law
enforcement collaboration. The ASEAN Wildlife
Enforcement Network was officially launched in
December 2005, at a ministerial-level meeting
held in Bangkok.
James Compton
