NGO to temporarily care for monkeys seized at airport

• Animals given in ACF care due to ‘lack of coordination’ among govt bodies
• Customs official says private firm imported 26 monkeys from South Africa on ‘fake NOC’
• Illegal consignment should be returned to exporting country, says wildlife dept

KARACHI: An illegal consignment of 26 monkeys from South Africa, two of which died at the airport while in the custody of customs officials, has rece­ntly been handed over to a non-government animal welfare organisation for want of coordination among government departments, it emerged on Sunday.

Sources said customs staff had confiscated 26 monkeys — tufted capuchin and marmosets — in January at Karachi airport being imported by M/s Khayal Enterprises on an alleged fake no-objection certificate (NOC) from South Africa.

They claimed that the customs made “immediate contacts” with the provincial wildlife department, the Karachi zoo and the quarantine department as soon as it found that the NOC was fake.

“While we received an immediate response from the quarantine department that declared the animals fit, the wildlife department responded after much delay, stating that the illegal consignment needed to be returned to South Africa by the importer under the law,” said a customs official on the condition of anonymity.

The importer, he said, refused to do so due to the high transport cost while there was no response from the Karachi zoo or the wildlife department on providing these animals with a temporary shelter.

“We had to act on an urgent basis since two monkeys had already died and the lives of other animals were at risk. Our space is exclusively meant for goods. Also, we were worried about the health risks that these animals might pose to our staff,” another customs official explained and added the situation forced the department to hand over the animals to a non-profit animal welfare organisation — ACF Animal Rescue.

“It’s unfortunate that the delay in coordination led to the death of two monkeys. It’s the first time in the city’s history that rescued animals couldn’t find shelter at a government facility,” an official shared with media.

In the past, he pointed out, the species recovered from illegal shipments were handed over to the Karachi zoo.

media tried to reach out to Ayesha Chundrigar of the ACF Animal Rescue, but to no avail.

However, the NGO uploaded a video on their Facebook page and posted that the at the customs warehouse the monkeys “were sticking their hands out of the cages begging for food they were traumatised and starving, travelling for days in the coffin like carriers”.

“So we quickly took them away to a quiet place. And they finally calmed down once they started eating. As we fed them, we quickly took grills from the Cat enclosure that we are building at our new sanctuary to quickly make a makeshift enclosure for them until we can build them a bigger one where we can rehabilitate them like a holding facility before we send them off to a sanctuary abroad closest to their natural habitat,” it said, asking to donate for their rehabilitation facility.

Wildlife dept denies delay

Responding to concerns, Sindh Wild­life Conservator Javed Ahmed Mahar claimed that there had been no delay in response on part of the department.

“The customs department was informed in writing that the illegal animal consignment is required [under the new law, the Sindh Wildlife Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management Act 2020] to be returned to the exporting country through the same airline which brought it. Airlines under the international law have the responsibility to verify documents from the related country prior to animal transport,” he explained.

He stated that apparently the customs department couldn’t fulfil this requirement and the department later came to know (through the social media) that the animals had been handed over to an animal welfare organisation.

The customs officials said that a case had been registered and criminal proceedings had been initiated.

They said that for guidelines the department had contacted the federal ministry of climate change, which managed the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This included the issuing of documents for the export and import of wildlife.

When asked about the animals’ custody, the wildlife official said: “We have no information whether they are captive breed or caught from the wild. Since the case is in the customs’ court, we cannot interfere in case property as of now.”

Published in media, March 3rd, 2025