A Nigerian conservation group has condemned Turkey’s decision to keep a baby gorilla rescued from wildlife traffickers, calling it illogical and contrary to international conservation standards.
The infant gorilla, estimated to be five months old, was discovered at Istanbul Airport in a wooden crate just before Christmas while being smuggled from Nigeria to Thailand. Turkish authorities seized the animal and transferred it to a zoo on the outskirts of Istanbul for rehabilitation.
Nigeria later requested the animal’s repatriation, and Turkish conservation authorities began the process. However, they halted it after a DNA test revealed that the gorilla — named Zeytin — belonged to a subspecies not native to Nigeria.
On Friday, Turkish officials announced that Zeytin would remain in Turkey rather than being returned to Nigeria.
The Pandrillus Foundation, a Nigerian conservation NGO that had been preparing to care for Zeytin before his transfer to a sanctuary in Central Africa, expressed deep disappointment.
“We are exceedingly disappointed. There is no logic in what the Turkish government is doing,” said Liza Gadsby, director of the Pandrillus Foundation.
She added that while the organization was willing for Zeytin to be sent directly to a gorilla sanctuary rather than via Nigeria, retaining him in Turkey violated international conservation principles.
“They did the right thing by confiscating him in the first place,” Gadsby said. “But keeping him in Turkey goes against everything they’re supposed to do as a signatory to CITES,” she added, referring to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
The Pandrillus Foundation currently houses another gorilla confiscated by Nigerian customs more than two years ago. Gadsby said the foundation would begin formal steps on Monday to repatriate that animal to a suitable habitat country.
“We never intended to keep her,” she said.
AFP
