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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021213/ap_wo_en_po/af_gen_nigeria_gorilla_smuggling_2

Nigerian authorities rescue two gorillas destined for zoos or private collections

Fri Dec 13, 4:07 PM ET

By OLOCHE SAMUEL, Associated Press Writer

KANO, Nigeria - Authorities seized two gorillas Friday from the home of a Lebanese businessman suspected of smuggling dozens of the endangered primates from this West African nation to private collectors and zoos in Asia and elsewhere, a Nigerian official said.

The gorillas, of undetermined age and gender, were discovered in the home of Paul Rad, who is believed to have lived for more than a decade in this northern Nigerian city, said Minister of State for the Environment Imeh Okupido.

Both the gorillas were suffering from scabies and other illnesses, apparently as a result of maltreatment, the minister said. He said the animals had likely been brought in from Cameroon.

Police were seeking the arrest of Rad and an accomplice — also Lebanese. Both were both believed to be overseas, Okupido said.

"We believe they were smuggled once before and were intended to be smuggled beyond our borders again," Okupido said.

The gorillas were being guarded by plainclothed Nigerian agents at Rad's hilltop home while authorities found a proper shelter.

Also confiscated from the home were two giant tortoises believed to be destined for sale abroad, the minister said.

"This illegal trade has been conducted for some time by foreigners and unscrupulous Nigerians," Okupido said, estimating that the animals were sold for "thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars each" to buyers in the Middle East, Asia and elsewhere.

The illegal trade attracted international attention earlier this year after wildlife groups demanded the return of four baby gorillas believed to have been illegally captured and flown to Malaysia's Taiping Zoo.

Malaysian authorities subsequently offered to surrender the baby gorillas if a suitable place could be found to take care of the animals.

Nine African countries are gorilla habitats. At one time, their population was estimated at more than 100,000. But surveys indicate the numbers are declining as gorillas are hunted and forests are depleted. Nigeria has just 200 of them left in a ribbon of forest along the country's southeastern border.

A global treaty, called the Convention on Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, bans the hunting or trapping of apes.