CHAMELEONS SMUGGLED FROM TANZANIA TO AUSTRIA

 

CHAMELEONS SMUGGLED FROM TANZANIA TO AUSTRIA                  

Here we go again! It seems that the smugglers never give up!

On November 21, 2020 we carried a story about “dozens of parrots stuffed in plastic bottles” on a ship docked at Fakfak, a port town in Indonesia’s eastern region of Papua. There is a rampant illegal trade in birds in that part of the world.

On January 26, 2021, the BBC carried another story – this one about “dozens of smuggled chameleons” found in a suitcase in Austria. They were stuffed into socks and boxes and carried in the suitcase.

There were about 74 of the little creatures (which are among the protected animals on the planet). Some were newborn and others were adults. Three of them died on the journey. They would be sold for about 37,000 Euros ($44,970) on the black market.

A 56 year-old man who had travelled to Austria from Tanzania was arrested in connection with the smuggled animals. He could be fined up to 6,000 euros, a source at the Ministry of Finance in Austria said.

The animals were taken to the Schonbrunn Zoo where they are reported “to being nursed back to health.” Schonbrunn Zoo is now their new home, the article said.

Where in the world did the chameleons live before they were taken on the perilous journey? I decided to find out more. They came from the Usambara Mountains a rainy and cool region in Tanzania, Africa. The Usambara and the Pare mountains form part of the Eastern Arc Mountain range in Africa.

The Mountains are an important tourist attraction in Tanzania. “They are a biodiversity hotspot due to a high degree of endemism in the flora and fauna found there. Here there are old forests and other treasures.”

In July 2020, Daphne, a visitor, wrote that she had “An excellent 4-day hike in the Usambara Mountains. She mentioned that her guide, “has quite a sharp eye for finding chameleons.”

In December 2020, another visitor to the mountains wrote “observing a bunch of chameleons was my personal highlight.”

How long does it take to go from Tanzania to Austria?  The flight time from Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania to Austria is just over 8 ½ hours.

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There have been some important changes and developments in our efforts to protect wildlife.

·        In April 2020, for example, Conservation experts said the pandemic is a watershed moment in curbing global wildlife trade.

·        Australia has urged G20 action on wildlife wet markets.

·        In June 2020, endangered animal parts - sea turtle shells - were seized in a boat raid in Pembrokeshire.

·        All trade in turtle shells is now banned by an international agreement to protect the species: The Convention for the International Trade in Endangered Species.

·        The man who killed Rafiki, the rare silverback gorilla in Uganda, was sent to jail.

However, there is still much more to be done to prevent incidents like this one:  In December 2020 ten of the 26 rare animals from Mexico discovered at a German airport did not live. Why? - they were found stitched inside dolls.

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