A South African zoo director Monday defended plans by the Malaysian government to send four baby gorillas to the country, saying his zoo was the best place for the primates, who would be killed if let out into the wild.
Willie Labuschagne, director at the Pretoria zoo, reacted to requests by international primate conservationists to have the decision reviewed by the Malaysian government.
The four baby gorillas were believed to have been captured in the wild and smuggled out of Nigeria.
”I am well aware of the incredible exposure that these animals have suffered,” Labuschagne said in reaction to a report quoting the International Primate Protection League (IPPL).
”I am not going to become part and parcel of a situation if I’m not confident that we have the ability to take care of it,” he said.
IPPL director Shirley McGreal told the Sunday Star in Kuala Lumpur that the Limbe Wildlife Centre in Cameroon was a better option as it has a good record with rescued gorillas.
Said Labuschagne: ”I’m not here to degrade other institutions but the National Zoological Gardens (in Pretoria) is, weight by weight, far more advanced and professional than the Limbe Wildlife centre. It is really not comparing apples with apples.”
He said that some one million rand ($130 000) had been made available to upgrade the gorilla enclosure at the zoo.
”They will be much safer in a zoo than being released into the wild. The present bush meat (meat from wild animals including gorillas and monkeys) situation in Africa is horrendous. They (the gorillas) don’t have a great life expectancy if they go back into the wild,” he said.
Labuschagne said a decision whether to relocate the primates was expected later in the week. – Sapa-AFP