Sunday, Dec 16, 2007

Gulf News

Dubai: Officers manning the borders of the UAE need to have more training in spotting illegal activities such as smuggling endangered animals, according to an international animal protection organisation recently launched here.

Trade from Djibouti is being specifically monitored by ministry officials as it is a known smuggling route, said Fred O'Regan, president of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). Ivory, leopard or tiger skins and shatoush, a shawl for which Tibetan antelopes are killed, are frequently confiscated.

Azzedine Downes, Executive Vice-President of IFAW, said more knowledge on endangered animals is needed.

"People outside municipalities don't know what CITES [the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora] is. So often the border police don't know what the animals are," said Downes.

Changing routes

"We've been working with the Ministry of Environment and Water on this and using previously confiscated items or animals as samples for officers to get to know and be able to recognise," he told Gulf News.

According to IFAW, the illegal animal trade is worth around $8 billion (about Dh29 billion) a year.

Grace Ge Gabriel, IFAW's Asia Regional Director, said online auctions of endangered animals or animal products is on the rise. Some online auctioneers like eBay for example have now banned the sale of ivory on their site, but smugglers are finding more methods to trade all the time.

"The routes are changing. Alternatives to land routes are being used and big international hubs are used less because of increased customs presence," she said.

Birds of prey smuggled from China to the Middle East is a major issue with around 450 Saker falcons caught in China a few years ago heading for the region.

In Africa, failed states or war-torn countries such as Somalia have more problems with monitoring illegal animal trade, said James Isiche, IFAW's regional director for East Africa.

"We work to provide rangers in parks with equipment to protect the animals but only in South Africa are the parks fenced. In East Africa the animals roam and can be poached outside the reserve boundaries," he said.

"There are porous borders, the governments are not in control and smugglers will get through as long as there is a market out there," he told Gulf News.

By Emmanuelle Landais

Gulf News 2007. All rights reserved.