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| Tuesday, 17 August 2004 |
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Crime rackets threatening Australian wildlife by Neil Sands SYDNEY, (AFP) - Australia's distinctive wildlife is being threatened by organised crime gangs who view smuggling animals as a profitable sideline to drug-running, authorities have warned. The federal environment ministry's assistant secretary for wildlife trade, Ian Cresswell, said Australia was being targeted because its unique fauna was so desirable for collectors around the world seeking exotica. He said it was not Australia's iconic marsupials such as kangaroos and koalas that were smuggled, rather less photogenic animals including birds, snakes and other reptiles. "We do believe it's increasing, we're getting more seizures," Cresswell told AFP. "Our concern is that the trade is becoming more and more globalised. Interpol believe it's now starting to be linked to broader forms of crime because of the potential for high profits. "Where you get that type of profit its no longer the backyard operator, it's large organised international crime." Interpol estimate the global trade in illegal wildlife last year was worth six to 10 billion US dollars, ranking it only behind drug smuggling and gun running. Cresswell said it was difficult to put a figure on the trade in Australia but the government was so concerned it set up a specialised investigative unit in the environment department last year, combining the skills of trained police officers and wildlife experts. The profits can be enormous. Cresswell said there was anecdotal evidence of thousands of dollars being paid for galahs, a type of grey and pink parrot so common in Australia that farmers have been known to illegally poison to stop them raiding crops. Rarer birds, such as the black cockatoo, can fetch up to 40,000 US dollars, according to Interpol. The trafficking goes both ways, with police earlier this year intercepting a shipment of animal products being illegally imported into Australia for use in herbal Chinese medicines. The cache included bear biles, which Cresswell said by weight were 18 times more valuable than gold on the black market. The temptation has proved too much for some overseas visitors to Australia. A Swedish tourist was intercepted at Sydney airport last year trying to enter the country with eight snakes, including four deadly king cobras, stuffed down his trousers, which he planned to sell to finance his holiday. A few months later an award-winning British documentary maker was caught trying to exit Australia with hundreds of reptiles and frog in what a judge described an act of "appalling stupidity". But Cresswell said the rackets believed to be behind the vast majority of wildlife smuggling remained elusive because they often used couriers to carry the animals, in the same way that drug runners use "mules". Former federal police commissioner Mick Palmer earlier this year completed a report into the poaching and smuggling of abalone, a rare shellfish popular in Asia. Palmer found the criminal syndicates involved were "highly organised, sophisticated, counter-surveillance conscious, well funded and equipped, with a willingness to be aggressive, litigious, and potentially violent". Under Australian laws, wildlife smuggling can attract a five-year jail term or 110,000 dollar (77,000 US) fine but international wildlife monitoring group Traffic said courts rarely imposed heavy penalties. A Traffic spokesman said it would be difficult to stop the trade unless courts viewed smuggling rare wildlife as seriously as drugs. "Getting caputured and paying a fine is just factored in, so it's not really a deterrent," he told AFP. "People in enforcement are often disappointed with the outcomes in court. "If you're trying to smuggle a kilo of cocaine versus smuggling wildlife then, given the risks, what are you going to choose?" In the meantime, Cresswell said there was a real risk of some species being wiped out by smuggling. "We have several species that face extinction through smuggling,"he said. "Orange-bellied parrots, superb parrots, are all highly colourful and they could be tipped over the edge if the wild population is hit hard by smuggling." |
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