Panama confronts illegal trafficking of animals
ANCON, Panama (AP) — In a tropical forest beside the Panama Canal, two black-handed spider monkeys swing about their wire enclosure, balanced by their long tails. They arrived at this government rehabilitation center after environmental authorities seized them from people who had been keeping them as pets.
In the coming months, biologists and veterinarians will shift them to a diet mirroring what they would eat in the wild, help them re-learn skills to survive in the jungle and wean them from human contact.
Panamanian authorities are trying to raise awareness about the dangers — to humans and wildlife — of keeping wild animals in their homes. This month, Panama hosted the World Wildlife Conference, where participants voted to tighten restrictions on the international trade in animals and plants.
Black-handed spider monkeys are listed in the most endangered category of international species, and Panama's Ministry of Environment say they are in “critical danger.” Trade in the monkeys is permitted only in exceptional circumstances.
“People don’t understand they can’t buy a wild animal from someone who doesn’t have authorization to sell it,” said Felipe Cruz, the Environment Ministry’s adviser on environmental crimes. “The environment can’t take any more. We’re at a critical point.”
From January through September, Panama’s Attorney General’s Office had recorded 19 cases of wild species trafficking and 14 cases of extraction of species that were protected or in danger of extinction. Shirley Binder, an adviser to the Environment Ministry, said the real extent of the problem could be greater.
“The country is big, there could be cases that we don’t have,” Binder said. “We have formed strategic alliances with security sectors that now are conscious of the environmental issue,...