During my recent visit to Cambodia, I had the chance to join the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team (WRRT) in action against the criminals who are driving wildlife species toward extinction. WRRT is a partnership between Wildlife Alliance and Cambodian law enforcement agencies tasked to stop wildlife trafficking and poaching, and its mission is crucial saving Southeast Asia’s embattled wild animal species. Joining me were Wildlife Alliance colleagues from the U.S. eager to see the fight against wildlife crime firsthand. We joined the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team (WRRT) along the main road east, towards the border with Vietnam, where they were converging on a restaurant known to sell endangered wild birds. While this was a rare opportunity for us, it is just a day’s work for the WRRT, which exists solely to fight wildlife crime.
Cambodia - During my recent visit to Cambodia, I had the chance to join the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team (WRRT) in action against the criminals who are driving wildlife species toward extinction. WRRT is a partnership between Wildlife Alliance and Cambodian law enforcement agencies tasked to stop wildlife trafficking and poaching, and its mission is crucial saving Southeast Asia’s embattled wild animal species. Joining me were Wildlife Alliance colleagues from the U.S. eager to see the fight against wildlife crime firsthand. We joined the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team (WRRT) along the main road east, towards the border with Vietnam, where they were converging on a restaurant known to sell endangered wild birds. While this was a rare opportunity for us, it is just a day’s work for the WRRT, which exists solely to fight wildlife crime. The Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team has been instrumental in slowing the rate of trafficked and consumed wildlife in Cambodia ”“ but their job is not an easy one. While Cambodia is on the road to economic recovery, it is one of the world’s poorest countries, and the wildlife traffickers, traders, restaurant owners and consumers can easily profit from destroying their nation’s wildlife heritage. The WRRT’s job is fraught with danger and sadness, but their successes are a sign of hope that the country is taking steps to protect its animals and forests.
A soft spoken Cambodian, whom we’ll call Naram is WRRT’s leading undercover investigations coordinator and was our escort for the day. While most of us here in the West enjoy our air conditioning and other creature comforts, and can support the environment by writing our elected officials or cleaning up a neighborhood park, Naram and his team of agents from the Forestry Administration and other Cambodian agencies are risking their lives and the safety of their families by fighting wildlife crimes and environmental destruction at the source. The impact that the WRRT is having in Cambodia will have dramatic effects on the fate of some of the world’s most threatened animals and plants. But the risks are real, and we need to protect the brave staff and rangers who conduct these undercover operations by using false names and obscuring their faces. You see, Naram and his family have received death threats from wildlife criminals eager to have him and his team out of the picture. Years earlier, while working on an case for the U.N.’s Human Rights Commission, Naram was kidnapped on the streets of Phnom Penh, pulled into a van and taken to the outskirts of the city, where he assumed he would be executed. Fortunately they did not blindfold him and Naram was able to throw himself out of the speeding van in front an army post. The life of an undercover wildlife agent is hardly different from that of an undercover narcotics agent, and protecting endangered animals means confronting a criminal underworld that trades in illegal wildlife to reap large profits due to weak wildlife protection laws and limited law enforcement capacity.
After arriving at the Phnom Penh headquarters, we reviewed the intelligence reports that revealed that the restaurant in question was illegal dealing and serving wild birds. This could not only pose a serious health threat from avian flu, but would also further threaten threatened and endangered bird populations in the wild. There are hundreds of species of birds in Cambodia recognized as threatened or endangered, as well as other species such as crocodiles, turtles, and macaques—all of which show up on restaurant menus all over the country.
Following our briefing, we drove in a nondescript unmarked sedan about three hours towards the Vietnamese border. As we drove, we saw evidence of construction everywhere as bulldozers and tractors busily paved what a new four-lane highway that will cut the travel time between Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City in half ”“ but may also have devastating consequences for local wildlife populations, increasing the trafficking of wildlife between capital cities. A major highway, coupled with a few dollars in bribes for underpaid customs agents, makes a profitable smuggling business even more lucrative. The lax laws and lack of capacity to address wildlife crimes make it far easier to risk trafficking in wildlife than running guns or drugs. Often, however, these commodities are trafficked by the same criminal networks, though when threat of police enforcement gets too close for comfort; it is the country wildlife populations which take the hit, not its opium fields. Make no mistake, however ”“ there is an avid demand for wildlife products, and the restaurant we were raiding was just one part of the market. Wildlife is routinely sold throughout Cambodia to consumers who consider such animals a delicacy, or believe that by eating a wild animal they can become as healthy or virile as the wild tiger or cobra itself.
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To learn why the demand is so prevalent, one must recognize that economic capacity in Asia has now enabled the widespread market of wildlife once too expensive for mass consumption. Within Asia’s rapidly growing middle class, disposable income is now being spent on eating species such as pangolin, slow loris and endangered Burmese tortoises. This commercial trade is a much greater threat to wildlife than rural people simply hunting for food ”“ but the impacts on the ecosystem are all cumulative: From the poor farmer who hunts for food, to the businessman who gains a sense of prestige from dining on rare animals. This is in addition to the multibillion dollar trade in traditional medicine product made from wild animals and plants, which threatens countless species throughout Cambodia and the world.
As we learn more about the crisis of the wildlife trade in Asia, our ride toward the restaurant is interrupted by news that the lead team of WRRT has taken a five-hour detour to avoid lookouts or informants who might tell the restaurant of the pending raid. Like drug dealers in a Western city, Asian wildlife traders have extensive networks of informants ready to call ahead if they suspect a bust. But Naram and WRRT have their own network of anonymous partners, who provide real-time data for Naram to coordinate his field team and manage the logistics of a bust. They provide places, times, names of species, potential safety threats and other information vital to a successful operation. Working with the legal system is another crucial part of a successful bust, but it can be a long and bureaucratic process to seek a court order or a search warrant. Also, it’s not unusual for informants within the judge’s chamber to make a quick buck or two by informing the sellers before law enforcement can arrive. The element of surprise is critical in this business.
After a very bumpy and dusty ride, we arrived at our destination around noon”“ but the judge needed to sign the search warrant was at lunch and could not be reached. Suffice it to say, it was hard for us to think about lunch while contemplating the fate of smuggled wild animals, and we ate very little that day. We parked a short distance away, to keep the unmarked Toyota’s license plates away from suspicious eyes, and walked closer to wait.
The eagerly awaited call finally came through several hours later and the operation was a “go”. We descended on the crime scene to find the WRRT rangers already there, conducting a thorough search outside of the premises. Their search revealed wild birds skinned and still alive, ready to be cooked and served, as well as various species of tortoises, some dead, some alive, and some half-eaten on diners’ plates. The team wasted no time in securing the area and videotaping the evidence present outside the storefront. The live tortoises were quickly rounded up and placed in water buckets and taken to the waiting trucks for safety; the birds put in wooden cages. Naram informed us that we needed to wait for local police to execute the search warrant to enter inside the restaurant. So far, WRRT had only rescued the animals from outside on the sidewalk. Again, we played a waiting game. The restaurant proprietor was detained until the local police chief arrived. She waited, quietly fuming, as the WRRT packed up her inventory and shut down her restaurant. A crowd of onlookers gathered to observe the spectacle. While the delays gave us time to review the situation, it also wasted precious time in saving animals' lives and could have given the owner’s associates time to hide evidence. But cooperation with local police and judicial agencies is crucial. If the WRRT, who are under the jurisdiction of the Forestry Administration in Phnom Penh, do not cooperate with local authorities, the village and provincial governments will turn a blind eye to crimes against nature.
Finally the local police chief and deputies arrived to serve the warrant and allow WRRT to search the inside of the restaurant. What came out of the restaurant is simply too horrid to tell. WRRT members emerged carrying coolers of wild animals ”“ turtles, birds, snakes of varying kinds; some dead, some alive and some unidentifiable.
As horrible as this scene is, Naram has told us stories far worse: slow loris, pangolin and sun bears, all considered delicacies, slaughtered and barbecued for status. Soon such animals will no longer be on menus; not because people will refuse to eat them, but because they will be gone forever from the wild.
We left to return to Phnom Penh before the final tally of rescued and dead wildlife had been completed. The WRRT stayed to secure the healthy rescued animals for transport to Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center or for release in appropriate natural habitats, and to put the animals that had no chance to survive out of their misery
While this was an exhausting and shocking day for us as visitors, it was an average day on the job for the Wildlife Alliance staff who provide strategic support for these Cambodian rangers. No matter where you are, if you see criminals profiting from the illegal sale of endangered wild animal species, inform the appropriate authorities. If you can’t identify a particular animal, but are concerned that it may be traded illegally, you can also refer to the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES) and your country’s CITES Management Authority point of contact.
To support the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team’s work in protecting Cambodia’s threatened and endangered wildlife, please contribute to Wildlife Alliance and designate your gifts to WRRT.
