How Customs Control the Trade in Wildlife

Abstract

In June last year a Customs officer at London Airport, suspicious of a cargo of 100 live royal pythons arriving from Ghana, checked the export permit with officials in Accra. They confirmed that the animals had been illegally exported from Ghana. The snakes were seized, and a difficult situation — what to do with 100 illegally imported live snakes? — was resolved by ffPS and the RSPCA jointly agreeing to pay the cost of returning the survivors to Ghana, where, under the guidance of ffPS Consultant, Dr Emmanuel Asibey, head of the Game and Wildlife Department, they were released in a national park. This incident highlights the important part the Customs Service plays in enforcing the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and also some of the problems. Ted Mouat, who is a senior Customs official, describes how they are learning and coping, and how voluntary societies such as ffPS can help.