Wildlife trafficking from Madagascar to South East Asia is growing.
One of the biggest captures in the annals of history. Thai authorities have dismantled a network of international wildlife traffickers by arresting six Thais, including two women and four men, at a hotel in Chumphon province, southern Thailand. The suspects were caught in illegal possession of 48 live lemurs and 1,076 turtles from Madagascar, according to information published by Thai online press Khaosod English News. These iconic animals of the Big Island were seized by Thai authorities and were taken to Bangkok while the six people are detained, it has been reported. These include the species of Ring-tailed Lemur and Eulemur fulvus while the radiated star tortoises are known by the scientific name “Astrochelys radiata”.
From USD 2,700 to USD 27,000. According to extensive investigations by Thai authorities, the lemurs and turtles were captured illegally in Madagascar. “They were then shipped to the island of Sumatra, in the province of Aceh in Indonesia to check the condition of these wild animals before loading them on a boat bound for the province of Satun in Thailand. The plan was to transport these animals alive to Bangkok and shipping them to Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea. In these third countries, lemurs and turtles are very popular pets and considered good luck charms”, Did we learn. Speaking of their prices, radiated tortoises generally sell for 100,000 baht or $2,700 per unit in Thailand. “They bring in up to ten times more in Hong Kong since this species of wild animals is exchanged for 1 million baht or more, the equivalent of 27,000 dollars”according to the Thai press.
State persons or politicians. « These radiated tortoises and ring-tailed lemurs are only found in the dry parts of southwest Madagascar while the brown lemurs or Eulemur fulvus are distributed in other areas, both in dry and humid forests. It is very likely that these wild animals threatened with extinction were captured in different places and then kept somewhere before being illegally exported to Thailand. How is this possible without anyone noticing it in Madagascar? », asks Rainer Dolch, a member of the primate specialist group of the Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). He is a resident conservationist who has monitored Madagascar’s conservation efforts for 30 years. For his part, Ndranto Razakamanarina, the PCA of the Voahary Gasy Alliance published on social networks that trafficking in wildlife species seriously threatened with extinction would often only be possible without the intervention of state officials at the highest level or many politicians in Madagascar, if not in an indirect way. “The sustainable development of the nation cannot be ensured as long as we do not focus efforts on the conservation of biodiversity and the preservation of the environment”he reiterated.
