Chimp Smuggling

The BBC exposes the illegal trade in baby chimpanzees, captured in Africa and exported to the Gulf or Asia as pets or for private zoos. Capturing a baby chimp means killing the parents and often other adult chimpanzees. The trade is starting to threaten chimp populations in the wild. Reporter David Shukman infiltrates a smuggling ring based in Abidjan, the capital of the Ivory Coast, and discovers the scale of this illegal trade which crosses several continents.

Photo: A captured baby chimpanzee is freed during the police raid of an illegal wildlife smuggling ring, Credit: BBC