APE SMUGGLING:

THE CAIRO CONNECTION

DEEP IN CENTRAL AFRICAN FORESTS, RAIN FORESTS ARE BEING DESTROYED...

...GREAT APES ARE UNDER SIEGE...

...CHIMPANZEES AND GORILLAS KILLED FOR MEAT...

...ORPHANED INFANTS SMUGGLED TO THE MIDDLE EAST...

...DESTINED FOR SHORT, MISERABLE LIVES IN DEPLORABLE CONDITIONS.

IT'S ILLEGAL HUNTING AND CROSS-BORDER TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES...

...BUT AUTHORITIES DO LITTLE TO STOP IT.

FOLLOWING A TRAIL OF EVIDENCE...

INVESTIGATORS BUILD A CASE AGAINST SMUGGLERS, BUYERS, AND THE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS WHO PROTECT THEM...

...THE CAIRO CONNECTION.

 [TITLE OPEN]

THESE CHIMPANZEES ARE SURVIVORS.

DEEP IN THEIR FOREST HABITAT, EACH BEGAN ITS ORDEAL WHEN ITS MOTHER WAS SHOT AND KILLED.

THEN SOLD, FROM ONE DEALER TO ANOTHER...

...BUT RESCUED, AND BROUGHT HERE.

SWEETWATERS CHIMPANZEE SANCTUARY IN KENYA IS A RESCUE CENTER THAT CARES FOR DOZENS OF CHIMPANZEES...

...A TINY FRACTION OF THE ORPHANS RESULTING FROM AN ONSLAUGHT OF HUNTING IN CENTRAL AFRICA.

THIS STORY BEGINS HERE.

IN JANUARY, 2005 THESE BABY CHIMPANZEES WERE CONFISCATED AT NAIROBI'S AIRPORT AFTER ARRIVING ON A FLIGHT FROM CAIRO.

SIX OF THEM, TOGETHER WITH FOUR MONKEYS, WERE PACKED IN A CRATE...

...STRESSED AND DEHYDRATED AFTER BEING CONFINED FOR DAYS WITHOUT FOOD OR WATER.

ONE OF THEM QUICKLY DIED. THE OTHERS WERE BROUGHT HERE TO SWEETWATERS AND NURSED BACK TO HEALTH.

X-RAYS REVEALED SHOTGUN PELLETS LODGED IN THEIR BODIES.

WHEN THEY LEARNED ABOUT THIS CASE...

...SO MANY CHIMPANZEES IN ONE SHIPMENT...

...KARL AMMANN AND JASON MIER DECIDED THEY HAD TO KNOW MORE...

...TO FIND OUT WHERE THE CRATE CAME FROM...

...WHERE IT WAS GOING...

...AND WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS?

AND THE MOST CRITICALLY...

...WAS THIS SHIPMENT ONLY A SMALL PART OF A LARGER BLACK MARKET TRADE IN AFRICA'S GREAT APES?

AMMANN AND MIER WERE ALREADY DEEPLY INVOLVED IN THE CAUSE OF SAVING THESE ANIMALS...

...AMMANN AS AN AUTHOR AND PHOTOGRAPHER FOR MORE THAN A DECADE...

...MIER AS AN INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR AND CHIMPANZEE ACTIVIST.

MOST OF THEIR WORK HAS BEEN FOCUSED ON THE ENFORCEMENT OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL LAWS THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT APES.

ALL CHIMPANZEES AND GORILLAS ARE LISTED AS ENDANGERED SPECIES UNDER AN INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT CALLED "CITES"...

...THE CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES.

MOST OF THE WORLD'S NATIONS ARE BOUND BY THE CITES BAN ON ALL COMMERCIAL TRADE IN ENDANGERED ANIMALS.

AMMANN AND MIER WERE FAIRLY SURE THEY KNEW THE ORIGIN OF THE CHIMPANZEES...

...MOST PROBABLY CAMEROON IN CENTRAL AFRICA...

...A COUNTRY THAT STILL HAS POPULATIONS OF GREAT APES...

...BUT WHERE RAMPANT COMMERCIAL HUNTING IS NOW KILLING THOUSANDS EACH YEAR.

IN THE BIG CITIES OF CENTRAL AND WEST AFRICA, THERE'S GROWING DEMAND FOR "BUSHMEAT" FROM WILD ANIMALS.

IT'S DESIRED AS A DELICACY, THE MEAT OF GORILLAS AND CHIMPANZEES ESPECIALLY PRIZED.

INFANT APES ARE FREQUENTLY SHOT AND KILLED WITH THEIR MOTHERS...

...BUT SURVIVORS ARE OFTEN CAPTURED BY HUNTERS AND SOLD TO DEALERS.

WHEN AMMANN AND MIER REVIEWED THE RECORDS OF THE CRATE SHIPMENT, THEIR SUSPICIONS WERE CONFIRMED.

THE CRATE HAD ARRIVED FROM CAIRO AFTER BEING REJECTED BY CUSTOMS AUTHORITIES THERE.

BUT IT HAD STARTED ITS JOURNEY THE PREVIOUS DAY IN KANO, NIGERIA...

...BOUND FOR CAIRO THROUGH KHARTOUM AS ACCOMPANIED BAGGAGE FOR A PASSENGER NAMED AHMED IBRAHIM ABDEL-SHAFY, HOLDING AN EGYPTIAN PASSPORT.

CHECKING FURTHER, AMMANN AND MIER IDENTIFIED ANOTHER PASSENGER ON THE FLIGHTS FROM KANO TO CAIRO...

A WOMAN NAMED HEBA ABDEL MOTY AHMED SAAD...

...AN EGYPTIAN WIDELY KNOWN AS A WILDLIFE SMUGGLER.

AFTER THE CRATE OF CHIMPANZEES WAS REFUSED ENTRY IN CAIRO AND ORDERED TO BE SHIPPED BACK TO NIGERIA...

...IT WAS LOADED ONTO A KENYA AIRWAYS FLIGHT TO NAIROBI THAT WOULD CONNECT TO AN ONWARD FLIGHT TO LAGOS.

BUT AMMANN AND MIER FOUND THAT ON THE RETURN FLIGHT OUT OF CAIRO, THE CRATE WAS LISTED AS ACCOMPANIED BAGGAGE OF A DIFFERENT PASSENGER, AN EGYPTIAN WOMAN NAMED WALAA MOHAMMED ALI ALUA...

...HEBA'S DAUGHTER.

HER CRATE WAS CONFISCATED IN NAIROBI, BUT SHE WAS ALLOWED TO LEAVE ON THE NEXT FLIGHT TO LAGOS.

ONE EGYPTIAN OFFICIAL CAME FORWARD TO EXPLAIN WHAT HAPPENED AT THE CAIRO AIRPORT...

STATING HOW RULES WERE IGNORED...

...AND OTHER ANIMALS SEEMINGLY ALLOWED TO ENTER EGYPT

IN KENYA, DR. JOASH KEROSI WAS THE GOVERNMENT'S VETERINARIAN WHO MADE THE DECISION TO CONFISCATE THE CHIMPANZEES.

AMMANN AND MIER FELT CERTAIN THAT BUSHMEAT ORPHANS WERE NOW BEING TRAFFICKED OUT OF NIGERIA TO BUYERS IN EGYPT...

...AND THAT THE PASSENGERS HEBA, WALAA AND ABDEL-SHAFI WERE WORKING TOGETHER.

THIS WAS A SHIPMENT THAT HAD OBVIOUSLY GONE WRONG FOR THE SMUGGLERS...

...BUT HOW MANY OTHERS WERE SUCCEEDING? HOW MANY CHIMPANZEES WERE BEING SMUGGLED TO COLLECTORS?

THEY WERE ESPECIALLY CONCERNED THAT A SHIPMENT LIKE THIS COULD HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED BY AIRLINES FOR INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS.

...A CRUDE BOX WITH BREATHING HOLES THAT OBVIOUSLY CONTAINED LIVE ANIMALS...

...BUT WHICH HAD NO REQUIRED HEALTH CERTIFICATES OR CITES DOCUMENTS...

...AND DID NOT MEET THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY'S MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR CONTAINERS WITH LIVE ANIMALS.

THEY LEARNED THAT KENYA AIRWAYS HAS BEEN A PRIME CARRIER FOR TRAFFICKERS...

...ITS EMPLOYEES AND AGENTS ROUTINELY ACCEPTING TO CARRY UNDOCUMENTED WILDLIFE SHIPMENTS IN SUBSTANDARD CONTAINERS.

AMMANN REQUESTED INTERVIEWS ON THESE FINDINGS WITH SENIOR OFFICIALS OF KENYA AIRWAYS, BUT THEY REFUSED TO MEET WITH HIM...

AMMANN AND MIER DECIDED THEY NEEDED TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE MARKET FOR CHIMPANZEES IN EGYPT. WHO WAS BUYING THEM AND WHY?

ON REPEATED TRIPS TO EGYPT, POSING AS TOURISTS, OR VIDEOTAPING WITH A HIDDEN CAMERA...

...THEY FOUND THE EVIDENCE THEY NEEDED.

AS AMMANN AND MIER LEARNED, IT'S NOW FASHIONABLE HERE FOR HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS TO DISPLAY EXOTIC ANIMALS, PRIVATE  COLLECTIONS, CIRCUSES AND ROADSIDE ZOOS THAT HAVE CHIMPANZEES AND EVEN GORILLAS.

IN THEIR INVESTIGATIONS THEY PHOTOGRAPHED OR FOUND SOLID INFORMATION ON 21 CHIMPANZEES AND FOUR GORILLAS KEPT IN PRIVATE COLLECTIONS IN EGYPT.

ONE CHIMPANZEE RECENTLY FELL OFF THIS ISLAND AND DROWNED, THE OWNER SIMPLY REPLACING HIM.

NEXT TO A CAGE OF SNAKES

ANOTHER BABY SITS ALONE, MISERABLE IN A DARK CAVE.

ONE COLLECTOR TOLD THEM IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO KEEP GORILLAS ALIVE.

...IN THE EGYPTIAN TOURIST RESORT, SHARM EL SHEIKH...

TWO CHIMPANZEES ARE LOCKED IN THIS PRIVATE ZOO

ONE BABY CHIMPANZEE, BARELY A YEAR OLD, SITS ALONE IN A DARK CELL...

...AN OBJECT OF AMUSEMENT FOR VISITORS.

AFTER AMMANN FILMED A COLLECTION OF ANIMALS AT THIS HOTEL, AND CALLED THE HEAD OF CITES EGYPT...

HE WAS TOLD BY THE HOTEL THAT HE WOULD HAVE TO LEAVE.

HE WAS THEN SUMMONED BY THE HOTEL OWNER, BEING QUESTIONED THE REASONS FOR HIS STAY.

THE OWNER OF THIS HOTEL, OUT OF VIEW BEHIND THIS BRICK WALL AND LOCKED GATES HIDES A COLLECTION OF APES, ELEVEN CHIMPANZEES AND TWO GORILLAS IN DEPLORABLE CONDITIONS.

WHEN MIER WENT BACK, THE OWNER'S SON REFUSED TO LET HIM TAKE PICTURES OR VIDEO FOOTAGE. 

EGYPTIAN AUTHORITIES WERE OF LITTLE HELP. THEY CONFIRMED THAT WEALTHY PEOPLE BOUGHT APES ON THE BLACK MARKET, BUT FILMING PERMITS WERE WITHELD AND THEY REFUSED TO GIVE INTERVIEWS ON CAMERA.

AMMANN AND MIER WERE NOW CONVINCED THAT EGYPT HAD DEVELOPED A GROWING DEMAND FOR GREAT APES...

...A DEMAND THAT WOULD DRIVE MORE HUNTERS TO KILL MOTHERS WITH INFANTS...

 ...AND WOULD MAKE IT EVEN MORE DIFFICULT TO FIND EFFECTIVE WAYS TO STOP THE BUSHMEAT SLAUGHTER...

...AND TO SAVE AFRICA'S GREAT APES FROM EXTINCTION IN THE WILD.

BACK IN KENYA, AMMANN AND MIER SEARCHED THROUGH AIRLINE DOCUMENTS AND CONFISCATION REPORTS.

THEY FOUND OTHER TRAILS OF RECORDS SHOWING REPEATED SHIPMENTS OF ENDANGERED APES TO CAIRO AND ELSEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE EAST...

MIER RECALLED REPORTS OF AN INCIDENT IN SEPTEMBER 2001 WHEN A CHIMPANZEE AND A GORILLA CHIMPANZEE WERE CONFISCATED AT CAIRO'S AIRPORT.

EGYPTIAN OFFICIALS KILLED THIS CHIMPANZEE AND THIS GORILLA BY DROWNING THEM IN A VAT OF CHEMICALS, CAUSING AN INTERNATIONAL OUTCRY.

THE RECORDS OF THE CASE SHOWED THE ANIMALS HAD BEEN BROUGHT TO CAIRO FROM NIGERIA BY AN EGYPTIAN WOMAN NAMED RIMA ALUA...

..YET .ANOTHER DAUGHTER OF HEBA.

TO AMMANN AND MIER, IT WAS CLEAR THAT HEBA WAS A CENTRAL FIGURE IN THE SMUGGLING OF APES TO THE MIDDLE EAST.

SHE WAS MENTIONED IN A REPORT ON SMUGGLING ISSUED IN 1997 BY THE WORLD SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF ANIMALS.

...BRIBING NIGERIAN OFFICIALS TO GET FALSE PERMITS FOR EXPORT.

THE PAPERS WOULD DESCRIBE CARGO AS "MONKEYS"...

...NEVER AS GORILLAS, CHIMPANZEES OR OTHER ENDANGERED SPECIES.

BASED ON THE INFORMATION HE OBTAINED, PUGH ESTIMATED THAT HEBA TRAFFICKED AN AVERAGE OF 40 CHIMPANZEES AND EIGHT GORILLAS EVERY YEAR.

HIS REPORT WAS PUBLISHED, BUT NO ACTION WAS TAKEN.

QUESTIONING OFFICIALS IN CAIRO, MIER CONFIRMED THAT HEBA AND HER DAUGHTERS HAD BEEN IMPLICATED IN WILDLIFE SMUGGLING FOR YEARS.

HE ALSO UNCOVERED THE IDENTITY OF THE MAN WHO HAD ACCOMPANIED HEBA ON THE FLIGHTS FROM NIGERIA TO CAIRO, TAKING THE SIX CHIMPANZEES IN THE CRATE AS HIS PERSONAL BAGGAGE...

...A MEDICAL DOCTOR, AHMED IBRAHIM ABDEL-SHAFY.

IT WAS NOW APPARENT THAT HEBA HAD ARRANGED THE SHIPMENT FOR ABDEL-SHAFY AND HAD FLOWN WITH HIM FROM KANO TO CAIRO...

AMMANN AND MIER NOW REALIZED THEY HAD PIECED TOGETHER ENOUGH

INFORMATION TO SHOW THAT ONE FAMILY WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR A MAJOR SHARE OF THE TRAFFICKING IN AFRICAN GREAT APES TO THE MIDDLE EAST...

...A "CAIRO CONNECTION" OPERATING FOR ALMOST 30 YEARS.

SOME OF THEIR SHIPMENTS HAVE BEEN CONFISCATED, BUT THEY'VE NEVER BEEN PROSECUTED.

MIER TRAVELED TO KANO HIMSELF TO CORROBORATE PUGH'S FINDINGS FOR THE WSPA REPORT, NOW NEARLY TEN YEARS OLD.

IN THIS HIDDEN CAMERA FOOTAGE, A WILDLIFE DEALER EXPLAINS HIS HISTORY WITH HEBA.

MIER THEN FOUND THE HOUSE, OWNED BY HEBA'S HUSBAND, WHERE SHE AND HER DAUGHTERS STAY WHEN IN KANO.  HEBAS HUSBAND ALSO OWNS A TRANSPORT BUSINESS WITH OFFICES IN NIGERIA, CAMEROON AND CAIRO.

THE DOORMAN AT THE HOUSE OFFERED TO SELL MIER CHIMPANZEES AT A COST OF LESS THAN 400 DOLLARS.

...AND THAT THEY COULD FILL ORDERS FOR CHIMPANZEES THROUGH A SUPPLIER ON THE CAMEROON BORDER.

RETURNING TO CAIRO, AMMANN COULD NOT UNDERSTAND HOW HEBA'S FAMILY COULD CONTINUE THIS TRAFFICKING IN WILDLIFE WITH IMPUNITY.

HE OBTAINED THIS HIDDEN FOOTAGE OF HEBA AND HER FAMILY.

EVERYONE KNEW ABOUT THEM, THEY WERE FOUND REPEATEDLY WITH SMUGGLED WILDLIFE, BREAKING THE LAW.

WHY WEREN'T THEY ARRESTED?

AND HOW COULD GORILLAS AND CHIMPANZEES BE DISPLAYED OPENLY LIKE THIS IN PRIVATE ZOOS?

THESE ANIMALS HAVE BEEN ACQUIRED IN VIOLATION OF AN INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT THAT IS BINDING ON EGYPT.

SOME HOTELS HERE EVEN PROMOTE THEIR APE EXHIBITIONS ON THEIR INTERNET WEBSITES...

...IN FLAGRANT DISREGARD OF CITES.

BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR IS A FREQUENT VISITOR TO A HOTEL IN SHARM EL SHEIKH WITH BLACK MARKET CHIMPANZEES AND GORILLAS IN ITS PRIVATE ZOO...

...ON ONE OCCASION HAVING THIS PRIVATE TENT SET UP FOR HIM IN FRONT OF THE ZOO.

EGYPTIAN AUTHORITIES TOLD AMMANN THERE WERE NO LAWS IN EGYPT FOR CRIMINAL PROSECUTION OF WILDLIFE SMUGGLERS...

...BUT HE LEARNED THERE ARE IN FACT LAWS THAT COULD BE USED, BUT ARE SIMPLY NOT ENFORCED.

OFFICIALS ALSO ADMITTED THAT ANIMALS ARE BOUGHT ON THE BLACK MARKET FOR PRIVATE ZOOS LIKE THIS...

...SUPPOSEDLY SUPERVISED BY THE GOVERNMENT AND RECOGNIZED AS "RESCUE CENTERS".

TO AMMANN AND MIER, THAT WAS A SHOCKING ADMISSION...

...TO SAY THIS KIND OF SQUALID CONFINEMENT QUALIFIES AS A RESCUE CENTER WHERE SMUGGLED ANIMALS CAN BE KEPT AND FORGOTTEN.

HERE ANIMALS LEAD LONELY, SHORT AND MISERABLE LIVES, BECOMING NEUROTIC AND AGGRESSIVE.

IF THEY DO GROW OLDER AND LARGER, AND ARE NO LONGER CUTE AND PLAYFUL, WHO WILL CARE FOR THEM?

LIKE SWEETWATERS, THERE ARE INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED SANCTUARIES FOR GREAT APES IN AFRICA...

...PLACES WHERE THESE INTELLIGENT AND HIGHLY SOCIAL ANIMALS CAN LIVE IN A NATURAL AND RELATIVELY FREE ENVIRONMENT.

HERE THERE IS A COMMITMENT TO CARE FOR EACH ANIMAL THROUGH ITS LIFETIME...

...AS LONG AS FIFTY OR SIXTY YEARS...

...A FINANCIAL COMMITMENT OF HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS FOR EACH ANIMAL.

AMMANN TOLD THE EGYPTIAN OFFICIAL RESPONSIBLE FOR ENFORCING CITES THAT IF EGYPT HAD ANY INTENTION TO LIVE UP TO THE SPIRIT OF THE CONVENTION...

...THEY SHOULD CONFISCATE THESE APES AND REPATRIATE THEM TO A RECOGNIZED SANCTUARY. AMMANN OFFERED TO BEAR THE COST HIMSELF.

IN GENEVA, AMMANN WENT TO THE CITES SECRETARIAT...

...TO FIND OUT WHY PROTECTIONS FOR APES WERE NOT BEING ENFORCED IN EGYPT.

HE EXPLAINED IT WAS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE  EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT TO ENFORCE THE CONVENTION IN ITS TERRITORY.

AS AMMANN SEES IT, THAT'S LIKE ASKING THE FOX TO GUARD THE HENHOUSE...

...IN A PLACE WHERE RICH AND INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE OPERATE ABOVE THE LAW, DOING AS THEY PLEASE WITH ENDANGERED SPECIES.

CITES SEEMS TO WORK WELL WHEN NATIONS ARE COMMITTED TO ENFORCING THE LAW...

...BUT IN THE MOST EGREGIOUS CASES, WHERE NATIONS REFUSE TO COOPERATE...

...CITES SEEMS POWERLESS.

AMMANN WENT TO THE HEADQUARTERS OF INTERPOL, THE INTERNATIONAL POLICE COOPERATION ORGANIZATION...

...TO FIND OUT WHAT ROLE IT COULD PLAY IN BRINGING WILDLIFE TRAFFICKERS TO JUSTICE.

BUT THIS INITIATIVE WOULD HAVE TO COME FROM A GOVERNMENT THAT IS FIRMLY COMMITTED TO STOPPING TRAFFICKING.

WOULD NIGERIA DO THAT? WOULD CAMEROON, KENYA...

...OR EGYPT?

AFTER FOLLOWING TRAILS OF EVIDENCE THROUGH MONTHS OF INVESTIGATIONS...

...AMMANN AND MIER REACHED AN INESCAPABLE CONCLUSION:

THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY IS FAILING TO PROTECT AFRICA'S GREAT APES.

AS THEIR POPULATIONS ARE DECIMATED BY HUNTERS...

...SURVIVING INFANTS CONTINUE TO FEED A THRIVING BLACK MARKET IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

LOCKED IN APPALLING PRIVATE ZOOS FOR THE AMUSEMENT OF TOURISTS AND COLLECTORS

THE CITES CONVENTION...

...THE ENTIRE GLOBAL SYSTEM FOR ENFORCING LAWS AGAINST CROSS-BORDER TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES...

...SEEMS COMPLETELY POWERLESS TO STOP THIS.

WITH HIDDEN CAMERAS, EGYPTIANS WORKING WITH AMMANN AND MIER COULD EASILY FIND PEOPLE OFFERING CHIMPANZEES FOR SALE...

...ON THE STREETS OF CAIRO...

...AND FROM THE NATIONAL CIRCUS.

MAJOR PLAYERS IN WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING THERE ARE STILL OPERATING...

...NOW TRAINING ANOTHER GENERATION TO TAKE OVER.