Global Operation Successfully Returns Almost 1000 Vulnerable and Endangered Animals to Madagascar
A global operation has successfully returned nearly 1000 vulnerable and endangered animals to Madagascar, in what has evolved into one of the world’s largest repatriations in the fight against illegal wildlife trade.
Earlier this year, nearly 1000 tortoises and lemurs were seized as part of an international law enforcement operation while being trafficked through Thailand for likely sale into the international illegal pet trade. This operation was orchestrated by Thai authorities with the support of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Wildlife Justice Commission, resulting in arrests in both Thailand and Madagascar.
Once the seized animals were in the custody of Thai authorities, The Royal Foundation’s United for Wildlife programme convened and mobilised members of its Transport Taskforce, namely Qatar Airways Cargo and Airlink, who generously agreed to provide free transport to return the animals to Madagascar.
This undertaking marks one of the largest seizures and repatriations seen globally and is a complex, costly operation that wouldn’t be possible without the collaborative effort of multiple global organisations.
The final shipment of animals arrived in Madagascar on December 12th with all animals being assessed and rehabilitated before being released back into an appropriate environment.
“This is an unprecedented feat for the fight against the illegal wildlife trade and demonstrates the immeasurable value of global cooperation in putting an end to these supply chains.
“Movements like this are only possible thanks to the work of United for Wildlife’s incredible partner organisations. We must look to this collaborative model for future operations to ensure we are acting swiftly and safely to remove animals from the hands of criminals and return them to their natural habitats.”
-Prince William
Madagascar is home to an extremely biodiverse environment, but this makes many of the island’s wildlife species vulnerable to illegal wildlife trafficking, particularly for the illegal pet trade.
Environmental and wildlife crime is the third-largest criminal activity in the world, costing billions of dollars per year with Southeast Asia seeing a high volume of animals being trafficked illegally from Madagascar.
The animals seized included ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta), common brown lemurs (Eulemur fulvus), Spider tortoise (Pyxis arachnoids), and radiated tortoises (Astrochelys radiata). Ring tailed lemurs are considered endangered, and common brown lemurs are vulnerable. Radiated tortoises and spider tortoises are both classified as critically endangered, with the pet trade being the primary threat to their survival in the wild.
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