African Greys are rescued.Byline: MANDEEP SINGH WILDLIFE authorities in Cameroon have rescued more than 1,200 African Grey parrots being trafficked to Bahrain and Mexico for the exotic pet An exotic pet is a rare or unusual creature kept as a pet, or a creature kept as a pet which is not commonly thought of as a pet. The definition is an evolving one; some rodents, reptiles, and amphibians have become firmly enough established in the world of animal fancy to trade, an animal welfare group said yesterday. Two shipments were intercepted at Douala International Airport Douala International Airport (IATA: DLA, ICAO: FKKD) is an international airport located 6 miles (10 km) outside the city of Douala in Cameroon. It is the country's busiest airport. and the birds were seized after the Kenya-based organisation Wildlife Direct received a tip-off. It alerted Cameroon's Forests and Wildlife Ministry, which came into action. The birds are now being cared for at Limbe Wildlife Centre, in the fishing town of Limbe, at the foot of Mount Cameroon. Wildlife Direct said it was the third such reported haul in the last seven weeks, all of which had been bound for Bahrain. Two earlier seizures were made at the behest of the Cameroon-based Last Great Ape great ape one of the larger monkeys, usually the tailless ones; includes gorilla, orang-utan, chimpanzee. Organisation - a conservation group. Two Ghanaians were arrested on December 1 last year at Cameroon's Douala International Airport as they were in the process of smuggling smuggling, illegal transport across state or national boundaries of goods or persons liable to customs or to prohibition. Smuggling has been carried on in nearly all nations and has occasionally been adopted as an instrument of national policy, as by Great Britain 500 of the rare and exotic birds, worth BD150,000. Six days later, smugglers were caught trying to smuggle smug·gle v. smug·gled, smug·gling, smug·gles v.tr. 1. To import or export without paying lawful customs charges or duties. 2. To bring in or take out illicitly or by stealth. another 1,000 of the birds, worth more than BD300,000 and the shipment was seized from an Ethiopian Airlines jet bound for Bahrain. Bahrain Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals cruelty to animals n. the crime of inflicting physical pain, suffering or death on an animal, usually a tame one, beyond necessity for normal discipline. It can include neglect that is so monstrous (withholding food and water) that the animal has suffered, died or (BSPCA BSPCA Bahrain Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals BSPCA Brownsville Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Brownsville, TX) ) sanctuary manager Sandy Carter earlier told the GDN GDN Garden (postal suffix) GDN Gdansk, Poland - Rebiechowo (Airport Code) GDN Global Data Network GDN Goods Dispatch Note GDN Global Disaster Network (Yahoo group) Bahrain has done little to ensure that laws are in place authorising strict action against those who import animals and birds and keep them in cages. She said she was happy the smugglers are being caught but said more should be done to ensure the trafficking of animals ends. She said she was sure had they made their way into Bahrain, they would have ended up in some cage somewhere and there was nothing anyone could have done about it. However, Municipalities and Agriculture Ministry animal wealth director Dr Salman Abdulnabi Al Ebrahim previously said there was a ministerial order banning import of all kinds of birds into Bahrain. During a similar incident last year, he said even if some of the parrots had made their way out of Cameroon, they would not have been allowed to enter the country, as there were strict laws in place to prevent that. The African Grey is a medium-sized parrot, which is thought to be one of the world's most intelligent birds, partly for its ability to imitate human speech. One captive African Grey, N'kisi, made headlines in 2004 after scientists said it had a vocabulary of 950 words. The species is listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species endangered species, any plant or animal species whose ability to survive and reproduce has been jeopardized by human activities. In 1999 the U.S. government, in accordance with the U.S. (Cites) to which Cameroon is a signatory. The pact requires that exports be accompanied by a permit issued by a national authority, which was not been done in this and the earlier case. mandeep@gdn.com.bh Copyright [c] 2008 Gulf Daily News Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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