- AMSTERDAM -- Two thousand
baboon noses have been found in a suitcase by inspectors at Amsterdam's
Schiphol airport.
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- Baggage handlers had noticed a "putrid smell"
from an unaccompanied suitcase believed to have come from Lagos, Nigeria,
and apparently destined for the US. Inspectors said the 30kg suitcase was
filled with rotting baboon noses.
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- Bush meat and parts of endangered species, especially
ivory tusks and rhino horns, are routinely found at the airport in luggage
but this haul was described as "staggering" by inspectors.
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- The noses, which have now been destroyed, were believed
to be for human consumption or, more probably, to be used as a traditional
medicine or fertility booster. Police are still trying to find the owner
of the case.
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- Esther Naber, of the Worldwide Fund for Nature, said:
"Baboons can be found in many African countries from Eritrea to Senegal
and Gambia to Sierra Leone.
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- "We are contacting colleagues all over the continent
to try to discover where this mass slaughter was. Baboons are on the second-most-endangered
list and can be killed only under exceptional circumstances and with a
licence. The numbers here are enormous and just show that while laws may
be in place to protect these creatures, enforcement is an entirely different
matter."
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- The Netherlands has become a major point of entry for
trade in endangered and exotic species, and investigations show drug-smugglers
have been behind many seized shipments.
-
- "International surveillance must be stepped up,"
Ms Naber said. "This huge number of baboon noses was allowed to leave
Africa without being spotted."
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- © 2003 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
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- http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=439994
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