www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=290800
Malaysia General News
October 19, 2007 Friday
502 words
MONEY FROM ANIMAL TRAFFICKING FUELS TERRORISM, SAYS MANEKA GANDHI
NEW DELHI Oct 19
The ceaseless demand for exotic animal food and animal skin luxury goods
continue to fuel the trafficking of animals, and money from this illegal
trade is being used to fund terrorism activities, according to Maneka
Gandhi, an ardent animal activist in India.
She cautions that the heinous crime continues, with minuscule efforts taken
to curb trafficking of wildlife -- making it the world's third largest crime
after drugs and arms smuggling.
"Animal trafficking is exceeding arms trafficking and drugs trafficking. In
fact, the same criminals who are doing drug trafficking are doing wildlife
trafficking as well.
"And the money that comes from wildlife (trafficking) is going into guns and
terrorism, that's the frightening part of it.
"We have recorded (statements) from people who have actually taken panther
skin from here (India) to Nepal and exchanged it for guns and bombs, and I
have no doubt it is a worldwide phenomenon," Maneka, founder of the popular
People Against Animals movement that campaigns for animal rights, told
Bernama in an interview.
The fragile and rich rainforest and eco-systems of Asia and Africa have
become a vital source for wildlife trafficking, estimated at about RM86
billion (US$25 billion) annually, due to the growing demand for wild animals
worldwide.
Animal meat ends up in simmering pots in fancy Asian restaurants as
delicious exotic food, and animal skins are turned into luxury branded goods
while each and every part of their bodies is used for traditional medicines.
Tigers, crocodiles, monkeys, snakes and a variety of birds and fishes are
traded illegally in open markets in many Asian countries, and now through
the Internet as well, yet little is being done by the authorities to stop
these illegal activities, lamented Maneka.
"There is a huge amount of animal trafficking from India, which mainly goes
to Singapore, Malaysia and China. For instance, truckloads and shiploads of
sea horses are sent out. It is completely illegal.
"We need to clamp down on these exotic restaurants, and this insatiable
appetite to eat and destroy is becoming too much now. The odd part is that
the rarer they become the more people want them. We need to have strict
policies ourselves against poaching, animal trading and animal medicines,"
she said.
Maneka said public apathy plus tolerance by authorities had led to a boom in
trafficking of animals but cautioned that this could eventually destroy many
precious animal stocks in the wild, many species already on the brink of
extinction due to neglect.
Only about 100 Musk deer remain in India's Himalayan region, their number
dwindling yearly due to poaching by foreigners for their valuable musk to
produce perfumes.
Even butterflies are being traded in the northeast of India, she said.
"They pay children RM13 (150 rupees) to catch butterflies and about 1,000
butterflies are destroyed for each one they take back," said Maneka,
currently the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament for Philibit
in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
October 25, 2007
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