Karmactive Staff
Almost 1000 endemic tortoises and lemurs from Madagascar, which had been trafficked and then seized in Thailand, will be repatriated this week to the Indian Ocean island state, confirmed by the Minister of Environment on Sunday.
Sixteen of these small primates, with triangular faces and striking gazes, typically found in Madagascar, which has one of the richest biodiversities in the world, including other endemic and rare species, already arrived Sunday in cages at the Ivato International Airport, AFP correspondents observed.
In May, Thai police confiscated 1,117 live and dead animals in the southern province of Chumphon—the kingdom’s largest ever seizure, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The species involved are considered threatened, particularly under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
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“This has been one of the finest examples of cooperation between Thailand, where the animals were confiscated, and Madagascar, where the animals were smuggled from. Even the airlines—Qatar Airways and Airlink—which are returning the lemurs and tortoises home are doing so for free,” says David Newton, TRAFFIC Country Director for Southern Africa.
Although many flora and fauna populations remain relatively intact in Madagascar, many species—including more than 100 lemur species—are threatened with extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List.
Max Fontaine, Malagasy Minister of Environment, commented, “Whether internally or externally, we will take the strongest measures on each case of trafficking, whether by civil servant or not.”
In recent times, Thailand has become a notorious hub for wildlife trafficking, typically destined for major markets such as Vietnam or China. Southeast Asia plays a central role in the illegal trade of endemic species from Madagascar, noted a March 2023 report by the NGO TRAFFIC, indicating that reptiles, amphibians, and certain plants were also affected.
