Grand Theft Auto: Wildlife Trafficking Edition

by Stephanie Feldstein · 2010-07-16 10:00:00 UTC
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Malaysian officials tracked down car thieves to a warehouse, where they recovered 42 stolen vehicles. They also found thousands of birds, as well as caged leopards, albino pygmy monkeys and green snakes. Among the menagerie were at least 20 protected species and a pair of rare Birds of Paradise valued at $300,000.

Celescoriano Razond, deputy director of the Kuala Lumpur Wildlife Department, believes this was ground zero for an illegal trafficking operation — local animals destined for sale overseas, as well as  birds smuggled in from other countries to fill customer orders.

The cache of cars included luxury models such as Porsche and Mercedes. So far, 20 of the vehicles have been confirmed as stolen. A 42-year-old man guarding the cars and a 23-year-old caring for the animals have been arrested, but officials are still looking for the owners of the warehouse.

According to TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network set up by WWF and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, this bust is proof of the link between wildlife trafficking and organized crime. Usually wildlife agencies are left to deal with these kinds of discoveries on their own, but TRAFFIC Southeast Asia spokesperson Elizabeth John said law enforcement should be supporting them. "The police should start looking at wildlife trafficking as a serious crime."

It's not the first time that organized crime has come to the forefront of wildlife concerns in Malaysia. Earlier this year, WWF-Malaysia revealed that local tribesmen were being paid by syndicates to poach wild animals, including endangered species like tigers. There's evidence of poachers from larger networks in Thailand and Vietnam raiding Malaysia's rich jungles, too.

When you look at the Malaysian raid in terms of organized crime, exotic cars and exotic animals sharing a warehouse isn't that surprising. Wildlife trafficking has little to do with the species, and everything to do with money; the animals are just another product. The big difference is that it doesn't matter to the cars where they end up, but trading in wildlife hurts the individual animals, the species, and the environment.

Photo credit: High Contrast

Stephanie Feldstein is a Change.org Editor who has been part of the animal welfare and rescue community for over a decade, and most recently worked for an environmental organization.

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