WHAT is a UN peacekeeper doing with a live chimpanzee in his baggage? When challenged on leaving Sierra Leone last year, the Ukrainian national in question claimed diplomatic immunity. He continued on his way, taking the chimp with him.
Wendy Jackson of Lincoln University in New Zealand is gathering reports on national diplomats and UN staff trafficking endangered wildlife. “I had a lot of problems getting people to talk to me,” says Jackson, who revealed her findings on 26 June when the Society for Conservation Biology met in San Jose, California.
“Trafficking by diplomats represents only a small part of the illegal wildlife trade”…
