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.
Nelegalna trgovina divljim životinjama u Brazilu je jedna od glavnih pretnji našoj fauni, a naročito pticama; a sve u cilju snabdevanja tržišta ljubimcima, hiljadama životinja koje su otete iz prirode svakog meseca, koje su premeštene daleko od svojih staništa, kako bi bile prodate uglavnom u Rio de Ženeiru i Sao 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.
Procenjeno je da krijumčari divljih životinja u Brazilu ukradu iz prirode skoro 38 miliona životinja svake godine, trgovina vredna skoro dve milijarde dolara godišnje. Milicija presreta ove ogromne karavane sa divljim životinjama, namenjene za prodaju na tržištu, ili ih prosto preuzima od vlasnika i nama svakog meseca stiže oko hiljadu preotetih 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.
Pratićemo Bredovu priču kako bismo razumeli šta se dešava sa njima. Mnogi ljudi misle o preuzimanju životinja na ovaj način: "Juhu, pravda je pobedila. Dobri momci su stigli i preuzeli slatke, zlostavljane životinje od krvavih ruku zlih krijumčara, i sada će doveka živeti srećno." Ali da li je tako? U principu ne, i u tome je koren mnogih problema. Moramo da smislimo šta da radimo sa 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 se obično prvo pošalju do državnih stanica hitne pomoći, u kojima su u većini slučajeva uslovi loši koliko i u krijumčarenju. U 2002. oko 45.000 životinja je dopremljeno u ove centre, a od toga 37.000 ptica. Milicija procenjuje da mi preuzmemo samo 5 odsto ukradenih životinja. Srećkovići, a među njima je i Bred, završe u ozbiljnim rehabilitacionim centrima nakon toga. Zbrinuti su u ovim centrima. Uče ih letenju, uče ih kako da prepoznaju hranu koju će naći u prirodi i mogu da uspostave društvene kontakte sa drugim primercima svoje vrste. (Smeh)
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.
I šta onda? Ornitološko društvo Brazila, sada pričamo samo o pticama, smatra da ne znamo dovoljno o vrstama u prirodi. Zato je previše rizično i za puštene životinje i one iz divljine da budu puštene u prirodu. Takođe, tvrde da previše trošimo na njihovu rehabilitaciju. Na osnovu tog argumenta, oni predlažu da sve spašene ptice koje ne pripadaju ugroženim vrstama treba uspavati. Međutim, to znači da bismo samo u Sao Paulu, samo u 2006. ubili 26.267 ptica.
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, pojedini istraživači, uključujući i mene, neke NVO i određeni ljudi u vladi Brazila veruju da postoji druga mogućnost. Smatramo da ukoliko i kada su ispunjeni određeni uslovi koji se tiču zdravlja životinja, ponašanja, utvrđenog mesto porekla, kao i znanja o njihovoj prirodnoj populaciji, tada je tehnički odgovorno oslobađanje moguće, što je dobro i za samu životinju i za očuvanje vrsta i njihovih ekosistema, jer na taj način vraćamo gene u fond te populacije, a to može biti veoma značajno za prilagođavanje novim uslovima sredine. Takođe, možda time vraćamo u stanište moguće raznosače semenja, predatore, žrtve, 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.
Sve ove životinje smo mi pustili u prirodu. Na vrhu ekrana, kornjače uživaju u slobodi. (Smeh) U sredini, ovaj majušan je napravio gnezdo nekoliko nedelja nakon puštanja. U donjem delu vidite mog ljubimca, mali mužjak tamo, nakon samo 4 sata od puštanja u prirodu, on je našao svoju partnerku iz divljine. Ovo nije ništa novo, ljudi rade ovo širom sveta. To je i dalje veliki problem u Brazilu. Verujemo da smo uvek činili odgovorna otpuštanja. Vodimo evidenciju o mladuncima otpuštenih životinja začetim nakon njihovog oslobađanja. Tako da su ovi geni zaista vraćeni u genetski fond populacije.
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)
Ovo je i dalje samo mali deo svega, jer nismo dovoljno obavešteni. Poručujem: "Izučavajmo više, rasvetlimo ovaj problem, uradimo sve što možemo." Svoju karijeru sam posvetila tome. Ovde sam kako bih svakog od vas podstakla da uradite sve što možete: obratite se svojim komšijama, obrazujte svoju decu, zasigurno utvrdite da je vaš ljubimac legalno dopremljen. Treba da krenemo u akciju, i to odmah, pre nego što ovi primerci postanu i poslednji. Mnogo vam hvala. (Aplauz)