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JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia may have been the final destination of the seven endangered animals Thai authorities confiscated from a 36-year-old Emirati man en route to Dubai.
The man was stopped early on Friday at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport. In one suitcase of his were two sedated leopard cubs. Another bag contained two other leopard cubs, a Sun bear, a gibbon and a marmoset.
All of the animals were estimated to be less than three months old. Authorities had been tracking the man, who was not identified by name, since he purchased the animals on the black market in Thailand.
“We don't know if the ultimate destination was Dubai,” Steven Galster, of the Bangkok based Freeland Foundation, an animal rights group, told Arab News on Friday.
“We do know it’s not just the UAE (that is a destination for smuggled exotic animals). Other people from countries such as Russia, US, Iran and Japan and other places seem to sourcing more exotic animals from Thailand. There are a lot of wildlife zoos (in Thailand) that act as wildlife farms that are a good source for those wanting to buy these animals. The law here is still weak, so people take that chance.”
Freeland helped Thai authorities capture the Emirati animal smuggler. If found guilty, the man faces jail time in Thailand, but wildlife advocates say animal smugglers who are caught rarely end up in prison.
Saudi Arabia is another major destination for exotic pets, which often end up in private collections. Dubai is a major transshipment point for these animals. East African creatures, such as Cheetah cubs, are often smuggled across the Saudi-Yemen border. Most smuggled animals die either en route or because their owners are ignorant about proper care of exotic animals.
A few years ago a crocodile was discovered in Jeddah's downtown lagoon, which had been released by an owner after the animal became too big and unruly to handle.
In 2007, Arab News reported about 28 baby Cheetahs that had been smuggled from East Africa via Yemen. They were all sick and eventually died. An adult female Cheetah was also smuggled in the same shipment; her back legs had been broken to prevent her from fleeing. She eventually had to be euthanized by veterinarians.
In December 2009, Indonesian airport officials in Jakarta thwarted smugglers who were attempting to send a baby orangutan along with other tropical animals to Saudi Arabia. Two years earlier, an Egyptian and a Saudi man were caught in two separate incidents at Cairo airport trying to smuggle snakes and other reptiles into the country. At the end of March, two Kuwaiti men were arrested trying to smuggle 40 snakes on a flight, again to Dubai.
Galster said he hopes for more cooperation between his foundation and organizations in the Arab world to protect endangered animals from being trafficked, especially when it comes to ivory from Africa to the Middle East.
Exotic animal smuggling became a big issue in recent years that led GCC officials in all of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE to pledge crackdowns on this illegal line of work.
The man was stopped early on Friday at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport. In one suitcase of his were two sedated leopard cubs. Another bag contained two other leopard cubs, a Sun bear, a gibbon and a marmoset.
All of the animals were estimated to be less than three months old. Authorities had been tracking the man, who was not identified by name, since he purchased the animals on the black market in Thailand.
“We don't know if the ultimate destination was Dubai,” Steven Galster, of the Bangkok based Freeland Foundation, an animal rights group, told Arab News on Friday.
“We do know it’s not just the UAE (that is a destination for smuggled exotic animals). Other people from countries such as Russia, US, Iran and Japan and other places seem to sourcing more exotic animals from Thailand. There are a lot of wildlife zoos (in Thailand) that act as wildlife farms that are a good source for those wanting to buy these animals. The law here is still weak, so people take that chance.”
Freeland helped Thai authorities capture the Emirati animal smuggler. If found guilty, the man faces jail time in Thailand, but wildlife advocates say animal smugglers who are caught rarely end up in prison.
Saudi Arabia is another major destination for exotic pets, which often end up in private collections. Dubai is a major transshipment point for these animals. East African creatures, such as Cheetah cubs, are often smuggled across the Saudi-Yemen border. Most smuggled animals die either en route or because their owners are ignorant about proper care of exotic animals.
A few years ago a crocodile was discovered in Jeddah's downtown lagoon, which had been released by an owner after the animal became too big and unruly to handle.
In 2007, Arab News reported about 28 baby Cheetahs that had been smuggled from East Africa via Yemen. They were all sick and eventually died. An adult female Cheetah was also smuggled in the same shipment; her back legs had been broken to prevent her from fleeing. She eventually had to be euthanized by veterinarians.
In December 2009, Indonesian airport officials in Jakarta thwarted smugglers who were attempting to send a baby orangutan along with other tropical animals to Saudi Arabia. Two years earlier, an Egyptian and a Saudi man were caught in two separate incidents at Cairo airport trying to smuggle snakes and other reptiles into the country. At the end of March, two Kuwaiti men were arrested trying to smuggle 40 snakes on a flight, again to Dubai.
Galster said he hopes for more cooperation between his foundation and organizations in the Arab world to protect endangered animals from being trafficked, especially when it comes to ivory from Africa to the Middle East.
Exotic animal smuggling became a big issue in recent years that led GCC officials in all of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE to pledge crackdowns on this illegal line of work.
