Posted on June, 14 2001

Washington, D.C.- WWF believes that the world's endangered species are one small step safer with the recent sentencing of Keng Liang "Anson" Wong to 71 months in federal prison, sending a signal that illegal wildlife trade will not be tolerated. Wong, a notorious dealer of threatened and endangered wildlife, was sentenced last Thursday in federal court in San Francisco and ordered to pay a US$60,000 fine. Craig Hoover, senior programme officer for TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade-monitoring programme of WWF and IUCN said, "This is an important moment for conservation. This sentence, one of the highest ever assessed for illegal trade in live animals, sends a very strong signal that illegal trade in endangered wildlife will be dealt with swiftly and severely." Endangered species traded by Wong included two particularly rare reptiles from island nations. The Komodo dragon, the world's largest lizard, is native only to a relatively small area of Indonesia. The plowshare or Madagascan spurred tortoise, believed by many to be the world's rarest tortoise species, occurs only on the island of Madagascar. In an assessment prepared for the US Department of Justice's prosecution of Wong, TRAFFIC determined the plowshare tortoise and Komodo dragon to have domestic values of US$20,000 and US$35,000 respectively. Other species involved in the case ranged in value from US$100–10,000 apiece. "The list of endangered species exploited by Wong is exceeded only by the list of charges to which Wong pled guilty," Hoover added. "One would be hard-pressed to identify a case involving such a broad array of protected species traded in violation of so many domestic, foreign and international laws. This case also presents an opportunity to ensure that such gross violation of these wildlife laws is not repeated." Wong, whose operation was based in Malaysia, pleaded guilty last December to 40 federal felony charges include money laundering, conspiracy, smuggling, and violations of the Lacey Act, a US wildlife protection law that prohibits trade in animals protected under federal, state, or international law and the making of false statements concerning wildlife shipments. The smuggling operation that illegally imported and sold more than 300 protected reptiles native to Asia and Africa ran from 1996 to 1998 and brought in more than $500,000. Wong was lured to Mexico by undercover investigators in 1998 where he was arrested and, ultimately, extradited to and prosecuted in the United States. "We commend the commitment by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Justice Department in enforcing our wildlife regulations," said Hoover. "This is the most significant case of its kind and it makes a tremendous statement as to the importance of ceasing illegal trafficking of rare animals." Trade of the animals smuggled and sold by Wong is regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a global agreement that controls the importation and exportation of thousands of imperiled animals and plants. Commercial traffic in many of these reptiles is prohibited; others require permits to legally enter trade. A number are also protected under the US Endangered Species Act, which outlaws their importation into the United States for commercial purposes. "This case underscores the tremendous growth in both the legal and illegal live reptile trades, largely to supply the demand for exotic pets in the United States. In fact, the United States is by far the world's largest consumer of live reptiles for the pet trade. Although captive breeding and other sustainable production efforts support much of this trade, harvest and trade from wild populations remain serious threats to a significant number of species," Hoover explained. "However, with the substantial sentencing in this case of international consequence, the United States can provide a much-needed deterrent to this extremely lucrative and damaging illicit trade, and set an example for other countries to follow." For further information: Nancy Engelhardt, WWF-US Tel: +1 202-778-9556 E-mail: nancy.engelhardt@wwfus.org