After a year - foresighted probe , theBBC have uncovereda tragic trafficking net span much of west and central Africa , trading in our close relatives : chimpanzee . The baby ape are demand from the unwarranted , often rip from their utter female parent ’s arms , before being smuggled and deal to zoos and wealthy individuals as pets .
sweep six countries , the undercover probe byBBC Newsrevealed the terrible smuggling ring that sell the short apes for up to $ 12,500 each , including the location of the ill-famed “ dispirited room ” . This is a space in which many charity have see pictures of poach chimps being held , but no one knew what country , let alone which city , it was locate in .
The probe found the gloomy room to be in the city of Abidjan , Ivory Coast , and once they had confirmed that the traders and ape were there , they informed Interpol and the local law , who then raid the compound and arrested the perpetrators . They also discover the tactic and routes by which the apes are smuggled , using bogus permits to ship them to the Middle East , Southeast Asia , and China , where they are sold to wealthy somebody and zoo .
While the distressful details of this web are just come to sparkle via this probe , the trade wind in the endangered chimpanzees , as well as gorillas and bonobo , has been known for some meter now . sanctuary across Africaare packed with the animals , most of which have been sequester from households and trader .
The ordered series of the barter across the continentis a travesty . When one chimp is recovered , the pitiable fauna ’s initial capture from the wilderness is soaked in blood . To get a single baby chimp , it is estimatedthat on average up to 10 adults will be killed . To make matters even worse , only around one in five infants removed from the wild make it to their net terminus , as they frequently become flat on route from wounds bring down during seizure or poor treatment by the traders .
This signify that for every chimp that is currently rest in a sanctuary , up to 50 may have died in the process to take it from the wild . That appalling bod place into perspective the vast scale of the operation that has been occur , largely without scrutiny .
This horrific toll on chimps is steadily pushing them closer and close to experimental extinction . Estimates now suggest that if the current rate of poaching continues , there will be no more wild chimps within just a few decade . Are we prepared to let our closest living relative – these sentient , clever beings – be consign to extinction due the requirement for them as pets and condition symbolisation ?
