One of the ‘Taiping Four’ western lowland gorillas sits in an enclosure at the National Zoological Gardens of South Africa in Pretoria, South Africa, November 2006. The four gorillas, popularly known as the ‘Taiping Four’ and originally from Cameroon, made headlines when they were found to have been illegally imported from Nigeria to Malaysia. On their arrival in Malaysia it was found that their import documents were falsified and consequently the management authority of CITES in Malaysia confiscated the four animals. To comply with the CITES code of conduct regarding confiscated animals, the relevant government must source suitable accommodation for the animals in question. The National Zoological Gardens of South Africa offered to house the ‘Taiping Four’ and the four infants arrived in the country on 14 April 2004. The gorillas were returned to Cameroon with funding by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
