Illegal wildlife trade in Brazil is one of the major threats against our fauna, especially birds, and mainly to supply the pet market with thousands of animals taken from nature every month, and transported far from their origins, to be sold mainly in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
Ilegalna trgovina divljim životinjama u Brazilu je jedna od glavnih prijetnji našoj fauni, osobito pticama, i uglavnom služi za opskrbu tržišta ljubimaca sa tisućama životinja otetih iz prirode svaki mjesec, i transportiranih daleko od svojeg podrijetla, kako bi se prodavale uglavnom u Rio de Janeiru i São Paulu.
It is estimated that all kinds of illegal wildlife trade in Brazil withdraw from nature almost 38 million animals every year, a business worth almost two billion dollars. The police intercepts these huge cargos with live animals, intended to supply the pet market, or they seize the animals directly from the people's houses, and this is how we end up, every month, with thousands of seized animals.
Procjenjuje se da su sve vrste ilegalne trgovine divljih životinja u Brazilu povukle iz prirode gotovo 38 milijuna životinja svake godine, posao vrijedan gotovo dvije milijarde dolara. Policija presreće ogromne kontejnere sa živim životinjama, namijenjenih za opskrbu tržišta ljubimaca ili oduzmu životinje direktno ljudima iz kuće. A na kraju završimo, svaki mjesec, s tisućama zaplijenjenih životinja.
And for us to understand what happens with them, we're going to follow Brad. In the eyes of many people, after the animals are seized, they say, "Yay, justice has been served. The good guys arrived, took the cute, mistreated animals from the hands of the evil traffickers, and everyone lived happily ever after." But did they? Actually, no, and this is where many of our problems begin. Because we have to figure out what to do with all these animals.
A za nas da shvatimo što se događa s njima, slijedit ćemo Brada. U očima mnogih ljudi, nakon što su životinje zaplijenjene, kažu, "Jupi, pravda je zadovoljena. Dobri momci su stigli, oduzeli slatke izmaltretirane životinje iz ruku zlih trgovaca, i svi su živjeli sretno do kraja života." Ali jesu li? Zapravo ne. A to je gdje mnogi naši problemi počinju. Budući da moramo shvatiti što učiniti sa svim tim životinjama.
In Brazil, they are usually first sent to governmental triage facilities, in which most of the cases, the conditions are as bad as with the traffickers. In 2002, these centers received 45,000 animals, of which 37,000 were birds. And the police estimates that we seize only five percent of what's being trafficked. Some lucky ones -- and among them, Brad -- go to serious rehabilitation centers after that. And in these places they are cared for. They train their flying, they learn how to recognize the food they will find in nature, and they are able to socialize with others from the same species. (Laughter)
U Brazilu, obično su prvo poslane državnim trijažnim ustanovama, u kojoj su u većini slučajeva uvjeti loši kao i kod trgovaca. U 2002. ti centri primili su 45.000 životinja, od kojih su 37.000 ptice. I policija procjenjuje da zaplijenimo pet posto žrtava trgovine. Neki sretnici, a među njima, Brad, idu u ozbiljne rehabilitacijske centre nakon toga. I u tim mjestima su zbrinuti. Treniraju letenje. Uče kako prepoznati hranu koju će pronaći u prirodi. I u mogućnosti su družiti se s drugima iz iste vrste. (Smijeh)
But then what? The Brazil Ornithological Society -- so now we're talking only birds -- claims that we have too little knowledge about the species in nature. Therefore, it would be too risky to release these animals, both for the released and for the natural populations. They also claim that we spend too many resources in their rehabilitation. Following this argument, they suggest that all the birds seized from non-threatened species should be euthanized. However, this would mean having killed 26,267 birds, only in the state of São Paulo, only in 2006.
Ali što onda? Brazilsko Ornitološko društvo, sada govorimo samo za ptice, tvrdi da imamo premalo znanja o vrstama u prirodi. Stoga bi bilo previše rizično osloboditi te životinje, i za puštene i za prirodne populacije. Tvrde da trošimo previše resursa u njihovoj rehabilitaciji. Slijedeći ovaj argument, oni ukazuju na to da sve ptice oduzete iz neugroženih vrsta treba eutanazirati. Međutim, to bi značilo ubiti 26.267 ptica, samo u državi São Paulo, samo u 2006.
But, some researchers, myself included -- some NGOs and some people from the Brazilian government -- believe there is an alternative. We think that if and when the animals meet certain criteria concerning their health, behavior, inferred origin and whatever we know about the natural populations, then technically responsible releases are possible, both for the well-being of the individual, and for the conservation of the species and their ecosystems, because we will be returning genes for these populations -- which could be important for them in facing environmental challenges -- and also we could be returning potential seed dispersers, predators, preys, etc.
Ali, neki istraživači, i ja osobno, neke nevladine organizacije i neki ljudi iz brazilske vlasti vjeruju da postoji alternativa. Mislimo da ako i kada životinje zadovolje određene kriterije u vezi njihovog zdravlja, ponašanja, zaključenog podrijetla, i što god znamo o prirodnim populacijama, zatim ih je tehnički odgovorno pustiti. I za dobrobit pojedinca, kao i za očuvanje vrsta i njihovih ekosistema. Zato što ćemo vratiti gene ove populacije koji bi im mogli biti važni u suočavanju izazova u očuvanju okoliša. I također bi mogli vratiti potencijalnog disperzera sjemena, predatora, lovinu, itd.
All of these were released by us. On the top, the turtles are just enjoying freedom. (Laughter) On the middle, this guy nested a couple of weeks after the release. And on the bottom, my personal favorite, the little male over there, four hours after his release he was together with a wild female. So, this is not new, people have been doing this around the world. But it's still a big issue in Brazil. We believe we have performed responsible releases. We've registered released animals mating in nature and having chicks. So, these genes are indeed going back to the populations.
Svi ovi su pušteni kod nas. Na vrhu, kornjače samo uživaju u slobodi. (Smijeh) Na sredini, ovaj tip ugniježđen nekoliko tjedana nakon puštanja. A na dnu, moj osobni favorit, malo muško tamo, četiri sata nakon njegova puštanja on je bio zajedno sa divljom ženom. Dakle, ovo nije novo, ljudi su to radili širom svijeta. Ali to je još uvijek veliki problem u Brazilu. Vjerujemo da smo izvodili odgovorno puštanje. Registrirali smo parenje u prirodi puštenih životinja, i dobivanje mladih. Dakle, ti geni se doista vraćaju populaciji.
However this is still a minority for the very lack of knowledge. So, I say, "Let's study more, let's shed light on this issue, let's do whatever we can." I'm devoting my career to that. And I'm here to urge each and every one of you to do whatever is in your reach: Talk to your neighbor, teach your children, make sure your pet is from a legal breeder. We need to act, and act now, before these ones are the only ones left. Thank you very much. (Applause)
Međutim, ovo je još uvijek manjina uz veliki nedostatak znanja. Dakle, kažem da ih proučimo više, obasjajmo ovo pitanje, učinimo sve što možemo. Posvetila sam svoju karijeru tome. I ja sam ovdje kako bih potakla svakog od vas da učinite sve što je u vašem dosegu, razgovarajte sa svojim susjedom, učite vašu djecu, provjerite je li vaš ljubimac od legalnih uzgajivača. Moramo djelovati, i djelovati sada prije nego što su ovi jedini ostali. Puno hvala. (Pljesak)