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  • Subject: [monkeywire] (Gibraltar) THE NEEDLESS SLAUGHTER OF THE APES: ROW CONTINUES
  • Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 04:48:47 EST


http://www.vox.gi/Local/NEEDLESS_SLAUGHTER_APES_ROW_CONTINUES-14112008.html

THE NEEDLESS SLAUGHTER OF THE APES: ROW CONTINUES

Vox Online on 13 November, 2008 10:40:00

Experts and politicians condemn Government ‘smokescreen' on killings.

As the row surrounding the needless slaughter of Barbary macaques which had
plagued residents of Catalan Bay escalated this week, both the PDP and the
official Opposition attacked the Government's handling of the issue...and
the
UK director of the International Primate Protection League issued a robust
response to threats from No 6.

"Attacking a well-respected organisation and one of its spokespeople does
more to damage the reputation of the Gibraltar government than it does to
affect IPPL," the League's Helen Thirlway said in London. "Denigrating the
person
who has spoken out publicly is an attempt to damage that individual's
credibility while side-stepping the issue at hand. The government's
statement also
demonstrates an intention to intimidate. The fact remains that there has
still
been no denial of the recent culling."

The failure to deny the culling - and the implication that this had not been
carried out secretly - drew a sharp rebuke from the PDP, who rejected the
Government's refusal to provide further information [on the killing of the
apes] because "it was not in the best interests of Gibraltar." And
Opposition
spokesman Fabian Picardo joined the attack, pointing out that the Caruana
regime
had typically avoided "accepting that it has acted in an unacceptable
manner as a result of its own inability to put in place a proper ape
management
programme."

Last week in a clumsy and ill-conceived attempt to lay a smokescreen over
the slaughter - and a patently inaccurate claim that the IPPL had not
approach
the responsible Minister Ernest Britto - a Government statement said it
rejected Thirlway's accusation of "secret culling of apes in Gibraltar".

" The Government has always made it publicly known that it acts on the
advice of local experts who, acting under contract to the Government, are
responsible for ape management in Gibraltar," the No 6 statement read in
part.
However, one of the consultants confirmed to VOX this week that dealing with
the
Government over the issue of the apes' future was "like battering one's
head
against a brick wall".

The Government statement also reiterated the claim it made in answer to a
recent Parliamentary question [by Picardo] that "it was not in the best
interests of Gibraltar to publicly provide further information on this
subject".

It also denied that the IPPL "and others in a coalition of animal welfare
and conservation groups" had found a home for the condemned primates back in
May and were discussing the terms of a relocation plan with the Government.

Instead, it claimed that IPPL proposals had been made to GONHS, who were
responsible for the Ape Management Plan under contract to the Government.
"However, agreement by IPPL to coordinate the exportation of these monkeys
was
subject to a set of preconditions demanded by the IPPL in respect of
Gibraltar's
Ape Management Plan. These proposals have not been formally presented to the
Government by IPPL or GONHS pending the successful conclusion of the ongoing
discussions between them".

And, with remarkable effrontery, the statement concluded: "The scurrilous
remarks made by Ms Thirlway in her Press Release final paragraph imputing
improper behaviour by the Government in respect of Government finances and
in
protecting the interests of ‘wealthy property developers' are potentially
libelous and the Government reserves all its rights in this respect. In
addition
they serve to put into context the credibility that should be afforded to Ms
Thirlway's statements' and views generally".

Responding to the Government's ill-judged attack on the IPPL and herself Ms
Thirlway said this week:

"A recent statement of the Gibraltar government referred to agreement to
export a group of monkeys as ‘subject to a set of preconditions demanded by
the
IPPL in respect of Gibraltar's Ape Management Plan'. It is standard practice
for any responsible NGO that relocation of animals only takes place if
measures are established to ensure that the situation does not reoccur. If
sanctuaries regularly took in animals without taking these steps they would
quickly
become inundated. They would also be accused of encouraging malpractice by
taking surplus animals without addressing the root of the problem.

"Both IPPL and the AAP rescue centre adhere to such a policy and it is
considered best practice in the field. It is due to this professionalism
that both
organisations are well respected internationally and AAP is an official
rescue centre for the Dutch authorities. The proposal had been approved as a
first draft by John Cortes, Head of GONHS, to commence negotiations and it
was
anticipated that he, and the Minister, would suggest some changes.

"The question of possible motives for this decision to cull, without prior
warning to John Cortes or the other parties involved, is a valid one that
remains unanswered. The NGOs that were engaged in securing the survival of
these
monkeys are entitled to explore the possibilities publicly when the
government will not provide an answer. The government was given the
opportunity to
respond to our queries privately and did not do so."

And in a statement the PDP pointed out that in its reply to the accusation
of whether ape culling has recently taken place the Government "has fallen
well short of a denial. Rather it has reiterated the position it took in
Parliament earlier this year when it said that it would not provide further
information because ‘t was not in the best interests of Gibraltar.'

"The PDP fundamentally disagree. This is not an issue of internal security,
crime prevention or of a pressing social or economic reason where lack of
disclosure would be justifiable. The PDP condemns the Government for hiding
facts from the electorate under the guise of the public interest when all it
is
doing is not being open with things that might be unpopular.

"The Government should be much more open about what it is doing. It is a
fact that there is a serious ape management problem. It has built up over
decades. Radical action needs to be taken. As a last resort the PDP has
stated that
culling may be necessary. But these should be kept to a minimum and going
forward that policy should be phased out. That can only happen if proper ape
management policies are carried out now.

"While policy pre-conditions that have nothing to do with the exportation of
macaques should not be set by any entity when arranging exportation to
another country the

Government must listen to international bodies that are expert in the field
rather than threaten them. It also should voluntarily take the policy
decisions necessary to properly manage the ape situation. It is the fact
that
Government is not taking the adequate policy decisions that is frustrating
many
people in Gibraltar.

"Neither people who are suffering the nuisance issues from lack of proper
ape management nor people who are against culling are happy with the status
quo. The

Government should clearly present its strategy to properly manage the ape
population, eliminate the nuisance problems and abandon any need for
culling.
Its policy that it is "not in the best interests of Gibraltar to publicly
provide further information on this subject" is not achieving anything other
than
confirming to many people that the Government has no real strategy.

And Opposition spokesman on the Environment Fabian Picardo added that it had
been able to independently confirm that the GSD Government had actioned its
policy of killing apes. "These killings are evidence of the GSD Government's
failure to properly manage the ape population and confirms the statements
made by Helen Thirlway of the IPPL.

"The public will now be in a better position to understand exactly the
meaning of the refusal by the GSD Minister for the Environment, Mr Britto,
to
confirm or deny in Parliament or to the media whether he had authorised the
further killing of apes.

"Given that the IPPL had actually found a location for the apes to be
transferred to, it is clear that the killings have gone ahead not ‘as a last
resort' as the Minister had told Parliament would be the case. There was
clearly an
alternative to the killing, namely taking up the IPPL's offer for the
relocation of the apes which also would provide for future ape management
solutions. The killings have taken place only because Government would not
accept the
IPPL's requirements for the relocation and not as a ‘last resort'. The
statement by Minister Britto in Parliament has therefore clearly had the
effect of
misleading the Parliament and - in the government's later references to it -
the media and the public."

To make matters worse, the killings had not cured the problems experienced
by tenants of areas where the apes roam after being attracted by open
rubbish
dumps. These still were not enclosed and the Government's failure to act on
the dumps demonstrated that the GSD was unable to act quickly even to
provide
"simple and necessary solutions to the everyday problems being experienced
by people".

"In the circumstances the Government's unprecedented fury in its attack on
Ms Thirlway is no more than an attempt to create a smokescreen to hide Mr
Britto's continued killing of mammals that are most closely identified with
Gibraltar. This is especially the case when we use the image of the apes to
promote Gibraltar as the government did this very weekend at the Lord Mayors
Parade in London, whilst secretly killing the apes on the Rock.

"I find the statement of the Government to be entirely in keeping with the
GSD approach to avoid accepting that it has acted in an unacceptable manner
as
a result of its own inability to put in place a proper ape management
programme," Picardo added. "As for the suggestion that anything that Helen
Thirlway
has said might be libellous, that simply is further bluster on the part of
the Government.

"Ms Thirlway is entirely entitled to her opinion as to the manner in which
the GSD acts to protect the interest of wealthy property developers and
nothing that she has said is in our opinion defamatory or libellous. I am
sure that
Helen Thirlway will have no difficulty whatsoever defeating any libel action
which the Government might foolishly decide to commence against her. Ms
Thirlway should nevertheless have little fear of such empty threats from the
Government and should continue her sterling work in defence of Gibraltar's
apes.

"We are committed to working with both our home grown (and world class)
experts in their field and with the IPPL in putting in place an effective
ape
management programme that does away with the need to kill any more apes.

"Ironically, Mr Britto has issued his press release attempting to intimidate
Helen Thirlway into silence in the same week that he has said that - despite
twelve and a half years of GSD Government in which to act - Gibraltar's
tourist product needs to be improved. Perhaps Mr Britto should start that
work by
thinking of alternatives to killing more of our apes which are recognised as
our greatest tourist attraction. Until then, this episode will go down in
our history as one of the most shameful instances of a government trying to
rely on a claim of "national interest" to avoid its own shortcomings."





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  • [monkeywire] (Gibraltar) THE NEEDLESS SLAUGHTER OF THE APES: ROW CONTINUES, Apesman2727, 11/14/2008

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