Midweek Musings 41, 16.09.2026 #UNCBD COP 17 Curtain raiser

 CITES laws are more practised in the breach, in India # UNCBD COP 17 Curtain raiser

By Malini Shankar

Digital Discourse

The discovery and rescue of abandoned trafficked Orangutans from presumably Borneo / Malaysia or Indonesia made great news headlines last week. News anchors were screaming that they were trafficked from thousands of kilometres away from East Asia. That itself made amusing news because they so called anchors obviously did not know where exactly Orangutans hail from, and the news anchors most definitely did not know how many ‘thousands’ of kilometres the startled disoriented baby Orangs may have travelled from in suffocating conditions.

Orangutans in Asia correspond to Grey and Silverback Gorillas of Africa. The term Orangutan in Bahasa roughly translates to native ape ‘of Asia’.

Not just such charismatic mammals as Orangutans but elephants, tigers, leopards, snow leopards, birds like peacocks, cockatoos, Bears of all varieties, Spotted Deer, Macaws, start tortoises, even pythons, and other (non-venomous) Boas are subject to and vulnerable to pet trade, thus seizures from the Wild.

Activists knowledgeable about such matters say “the modus operandi is to wean vulnerable babies like such Orangutans from the Wild habitat smuggle them in connivance with corrupt border patrols and Customs officials and transport them across the globe in suffocating containers. On being discovered traffickers like the guilty in this month’s orang-utan incident in Odisha abandon their wards

Atleast in this instance the trafficked endangered Asian apes were securely rescued. Most often charismatic mammals and beautiful birds are destined to reach circus companies, private illegal zoos and wildlife rehab centres or fall victim to illegal pet trade.  Investigations are still underway but they will hopefully establish those who had ordered purchase of such innocent creatures. Some regional channels reported on Monday 14^th September that the kidnapped or trafficked baby orang-utans were on the way to a hotel in Digha in neighbouring West Bengal (which is not too far off from Balasore where the baby orang-utans were found abandoned). People working in the area of poaching and prevention of wildlife crime / trafficking say there are many layers of wildlife trade. Even if it can be established that th baby orangs were heading to a hotelier’s custody in Digha in West Bengal, the person can disclaim all ownership and sy it wa being done at the behest of so and so. Since it is cash that exchanges hands and there is no digital money trail it is next to impossible to capture the kingpins of wildlife trade.

Those who actually purchase trafficked game maybe the 9^th or 10^th ring in the wildlife crime. Poachers who capture the wild animal(s) pass it on to people in five to six rings before it lands with the person who has paid for it’s acquisition.

The moment ‘exotic’ – or non-native wildlife are confiscated in India its conservation. So as of now the seized wildlife contraband is in the custody of Zoo Authority of India in Nandankannan Zoo in Odisha. After the babies are stabilised and genetic tracing through DNA sampling is done it should go with CITES supervision to Indonesia, where hopefully scientists will be able to reintroduce the lot baby Orangutans to their nearest forest home, with hopes that their mothers will reunite with their lost babies. Till then all wildlife lovers are holding their breathe. But in such cases so far the officials in India would say Indian wildlife conservation laws are applicable to Indian Wildlife not to foreign wildlife.  The moment an Indian Wildlife official declares it as exotic wildlife / non-native wildlife… it becomes legal for wildlife ‘orphanages’ to procure them. Then either Vantara or Ganapathi Satchitananda Ashram’s Wildlife Orphanage or Madras Crocodile Trust Bank will acquire them. Atleast MCBT has a not for profit legal status. But Vantara is a private zoo with wild animals serving as an ‘exhibit’ where the zoo makes money by exhibiting life forms. The second one Ganapathi Satchitananda Ashram near Mysore has a whole repertoire of colourful Macaws in their custody. Sure there is a wild animal hospital in Vantara, and injured wildlife get medical care. But it is not yet clear if CITES certification is available with them and if they are releasing injured wildlife after medical care to their wilderness area where they were found from. These two areas need public documentation.

As for Ganapathi Satchitananda Ashram near Mysore, more publicity was given to how easy it was to bribe forest officials who came to raid and free the illegally kept Macaws.

There was a declaration by Indian Wildlife officials that non-native wildlife were not under protection of the Indian wildlife laws / forest department and lo behold private citizens / commercial zoos etc were allowed to legally keep non- native wildlife like Macaws, Cockatoos, Orangutans, Snow Leopards etc and make money on that.   

This points to the lacunae in CITES law. CITES or the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species was implemented more in the breach because of this breach in Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972. But India has amended the pertinent sections of Wildlife Protection Act 1972 in 2022. Various provisions concerning seizure, confiscation, offences, penalties and enforcement were amended. The 2022 Act now classifies imported / exotic wildlife – for example the instant Baby Orangutans as Schedule 1 Animals on par with Royal Bengal Tiger, Snow Leopard, Peacock or Crocodile.

It is not just tracing the genetic pool of the trafficked Orangs that needs investigation. I spoke to Customs Officials, wildlife scientists, NGOs and merchant navy crew to understand the racket. What emerges is a hazy picture without dots.

Probability 1: It came without notice on a fishing trawler and was caught by marine corps of the Customs who hand it over to some NGO with the hope that Customs officials will not be burdened with caring for exotic wildlife.

Probability 2: Fishing trawlers off the coast of Odisha were handed over the fragile Cargo by international traffickers.

 Probability 3: Merchant Navy Crew or their landlubber staff might serve as back channel connections in dark invisible conniving circle with all suggestions pointing towards a privately managed zoo that enjoys political patronage but no CITES certification.

Probability 4: It is the land borders on the East that are extremely porous. These baby Orangutans maybe from Malaysian Borneo, Java, Sumatra, / Malaysia, Laos, and is likely to have travelled on land through Myanmar Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Bangladesh …. But then that would mean Bengal’s hotel in Digha was not one destination…

No point speculating or conducting a media trial when the criminal complaint has not yet pointed fingers at anyone. The relevant laws need to be braided up, guilty caught n tried, punished as pre lw and the culprits should be given ample publicity.