PAINTED DOG TRANSCRIPT SHORT VERSION
TC: 00:00
VO:
The painted dog is amongst Africa’s most endangered species.Through efforts to relocate 24 of them from a national park in South Africa to Zimbabwe, an extraordinary story emerged. It demonstrated for the first time a major trade in the animals reaching all the way to China.
TC: 00:30
Greg Rasmussen:
Dogs in South Africa, in theory they're protected. But zoos want new bloodlines all the time. The only way to get them is wild stock. So a zoo trade is feeding an illegal trade of dogs being pulled out of the wild.
00:50
VO:
Our undercover investigation with animal dealers confirms these claims.
Mike Bester:
People all think that because they're endangered in the wild they're protected, but they're not.
Manus Pretorius:
I'm breeding for the last ten years with African Wild Dogs.
Undercover VO:
Yes, so the origin is from the wild?
Manus Pretorius:
Some of them, the origin is from the wild. Some from a breeding centre.
Undercover VO:
How many wild dogs are in China?
Tianjin Trader:
200 or 300, I don't know.
Undercover VO:
So many?
Tianjin Trader:
Yes.
Undercover VO:
And all from South Africa?
Tianjin Trader:
Yes.
01:21
VO:
The Painted Dogs were sent to zoos that treated their animals like this.
1:29
Peter Singer:
The trade in captive animals is creating a financial incentive for people to remove animals from the wild. So that their offspring can then be sold as captive. If you take animals out of the wild and sell their offspring, you're laundering animals.
VO:
Yet to date, the official institutions meant to protect the African Painted Dogs have claimed that the trade does not significantly affect the existence of the species in the wild. Is the legal trade really marginal or are officials and zoos in China, Europe and the US, putting the wild dog at risk?
Sillero:
There had been rumors in the last few years about some trade of live animals taking place in Southern African countries. But the evidence you're putting to us today is a real breakthrough.
2:22
TITLE
CARD
This film is the result of an international investigation into the trade of African Painted Dogs, which took four years to complete.
02:38
VO:
The African Painted Dog ...or as it is commonly called the Wild Dog. A hundred years ago there were half a million of them. Today there is believed to be only three thousand left in the wild due to loss of habitat and hunting. Called the devil's dog by colonial farmers, they are in fact highly intelligent and social. Unlike lions, for example, they feed their young first.
03:07
Lower Third: Dr. Greg Rasmussen, Painted Dog Conservation
Greg Rasmussen:
The dogs are not only highly endangered; they're also uniquely social. They're one of the few species that looks after their sick and their weak. And also they feed their pups first. They hunt collectively. They do everything together. They can't afford to lose individuals from the wild.
VO:
Our story beings with Dr. George In Der Maur, a radiologist who through his travels in Africa became dedicated to the dog's survival. He tried to save 24 Painted Dogs from overpopulation and possible euthanasia at Pilanesberg National Park in South Africa.
Lower Third: 3:46
George In der Maur, African Wild Dog S.O.S. Fund
George
I was informed by Pilanesberg National Park that there were two packs of Wild Dogs in the park. And that was one pack too many, as their natural prey were being overhunted within the confines of the park, and the natural balance between hunters and hunted was being badly damaged.
04:12
Lower Third:
Painted Dog Conservation,
Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe
VO:
He arranged to move the dogs to Painted Dog Conservation in Hwange National Park: a centre for rehabilitating the animals into the Wild.
VO:
Due to delays in permits from South African authorities, the dogs were left for almost a year at Mafunyane, a private game reserve owned by Manus Pretorius, a self proclaimed international trader in quality wildlife.
04:40
VO:
When permission from the South African authorities was finally granted, George and the team from Painted Dog Conservation came to the facility to collect the dogs. They were told they could only take 16 of the original 24 because 1 female was pregnant and another 7 had died. They were clearly told that the dogs were indeed one family pack.
George
But it's fine, eh?
Veterinarian
I think they'll be fine
George
You think they don't fight with each other during the trip. It's the one pack, isn't it?
Lower Third: Veterinarian, Mafunyane
Veterinarian:
It's the one pack and they've been here since the 5th of November.
George:
It's not too small.
Veterinarian
No
05:13
VO:
In order to prepare them for trip to Hwange, one by one the dogs must be tranquilized.
05:31
VO:
The rangers are concerned that the dogs might find it difficult to acclimatize back to the wild after having been held so long in captivity
Lower Third: Dr. Greg Rasmussen, Painted Dog Conservation
Greg:
That year and a half in captivity will have greatly impacted on the chances of these dogs to survive. However we are going to do everything we can to make sure as many of them do survive.
06:00
VO:
It was only after the dogs were released into the wild that the behavior of some of them led Rasmussen to suspect a problem…that many of the painted dogs might not have been wild at all.
Greg:
Of the 24 dogs from PIlanesberg, we only received 16. One female was pregnant, so we couldn't take her. And we were told that the rest had died. When we got back to Zimbabwe, we realised that some of the dogs were not wild as we had been told.
We've checked on the photographic identities of the dogs and studied that very closely and found that we could only find two matches of the original twenty-four dogs in Pilanesberg. So it was quite clear that a number of the dogs had been switched.
Of course the consequence for the dogs that we received that were captive, once they were released into the wild, it was a death sentence. Where all the dogs are, who knows? They could end up in horrendous conditions in China. They could end up in Canned Hunting. Who knows? Only the dealer can tell that.
07:00
VO:
Following Rasmussen's suspicions, an undercover reporter tried to trace the dogs. He posed as an Asian animal dealer. Manus Pretorius admitted to having traded with China, and in offering Painted dogs claimed that some had wild parentage. This at least confirmed Rasmussen's allegations that traders were receiving animals taken from the wild to create new bloodlines for zoos.
07:31
Lower Third: Manus Pretorius, Mafunyane, South Africa,
Undercover VO:
F2 generation?
Pretorius
Yes, second generation. Captive bred.
Undercover VO:
Second generation. So it means you have 2 or 3 parents from the wild.
Pretorius:
Yes, I'm breeding for the last 10 years with African Wild Dogs.
Undercover VO:
So the origin is from the wild?
Pretorius:
Some origin is out of the wild, others come from breeding centres, two different breeding centres. If I put them together here for two months, they may fight, there's no problem.
I deliver to Dalian Zoo. Dalian is also in China. I've delivered to Canada. So I've delivered quite a lot of them. Two months ago I delivered twenty dogs to Beijing. It was twelve males and eight females.
It went where, just a moment, I can't remember out of my head, just a minute, to the Tianjin Trading Corporation.
08:33
VO:
Following Pretorius' lead, we went to China to meet the Tianjin Trading Corporation.
Tianjin:
Hello! Hello
Lower Third
Animal Dealer, Tianjin Trading Corporation
08:51
VO:
First we quickly confirmed that Tianjin was trading with Pretorius and Mafunyane, this time with a shipment of cheetahs.
Night footage of shipment of Cheetahs
09:09
VO:
Our Undercover VO investigation into Tianjin corporation did indeed confirm that they had bought painted dogs from the South African dealer, Manus Pretorius.
Tianjin
Wild dog? Last year I buy 20. This year I will buy again 6 or 7. And 10 later. It's a common animal in China. Many Chinese zoos have wild dogs.
Title: Changsa City, China
09:34
VO:
Changsa Zoo (title Changsa City, China) confirmed that they had bought 16 African Painted Dogs from Tianjin Trading Corporation
Chinese Zookeeper:
We transported them from South Africa to Tianjin. Last year, we transported them to Changsa zoo.
09:52
VO:
Dalian Zoo also confirmed it had bought Painted Dogs from Pretorius for an amount totaling 80,000 US Dollars.
Undercover VO:
For 20 dogs, you paid eighty thousand dollars?
Chinese Zoo rep:
Eighty. Eighty thousand. Eighty thousand dollars.
Undercover VO
For 20 dogs?
Chinese Zoo rep:
Yeah, yeah yeah.
Title: Changsa Zoo, Changsa, China
VO:
We couldn't confirm whether any of the transactions included the original dogs from Pilanesberg. However, we did discover the conditions the dogs were kept in in Changsa and other zoos.
10:28
VO:
Conditions which are in clear violation of the World Association of Zoos and Aquarium's own ethics, which state, "all exhibits must be of such size and volume as to allow the animal to express its natural behaviours."
The conditions of the Painted Dogs even violated Mafunyane's stated code of conduct which claims "to keep animal welfare our first priority." These conditions did not only apply to Painted Dogs but to other animals in the zoos as well. Admittedly none of these zoos are signatory to the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
Zoo footage
11:42
VO:
Meanwhile, Tianjin Trading Corporation claimed not to care about the conditions but was only interested in doing business.
Undercover VO:
For Chinese zoos, brother, sister, no problem.
Tianjin:
No problem.
Undercover VO:
When they have babies.
Tianjin
No, no no. Have babies. I don't care about this. Just sell.
I want to buy again now 6.
Undercover VO:
How many wild dogs are in China?
Tianjin:
Now, I think 200.
12:12
VO:
But it's not only Manus Pretorius who is accused of exporting the Painted Dogs caught from the wild. According to internal zoo documentation, there are other dealers as well.
Undercover VO:
What is price is 12 dogs and when can you deliver?
Lower third: Riccardo Giazza, Animal Dealer, South Africa
Riccardo
I will give you the price of one animal. The prices is 2,500 USD transport included.
12:36
Lower Third: Mike Bester, Animal Dealer, South Africa
VO:
A major South African trader claimed to have sent hundreds of Painted Dogs overseas.
Bester:
I've exported over 200. Dogs are simple. I export lots of dogs. I've taken more than 100 to China over the years. All the big parks in China have got lots of dogs now.
I took them to the Bronx Zoo last year in America. We took 2 females and 4 males. They've got 17 puppies already. I took to Denver Zoo in the States. I took 4 animals, 2 males, 2 females. They've had 23 babies in 2 years. Wild dogs going to Pittsburgh Zoo. Let's see there are four dogs going to Pittsburgh. 3 point 2. Five going to Pittsburgh.
13:20
Bester
Wild Dogs aren't even Cites, not even Cites. Not even Cites 3. Wild dogs are nothing. I can get a permit in one weekend.
Lower third: Wim Verberkmoes, European Breeding Coordinator
VO:
Wim Verberkmoes is the European breeding coordinator for Painted Dogs. Every European zoo that wants to breed Dogs must seek his permission. He has seen the condition of the Chinese zoos and claims that the wild population should not be touched.
Wim Verberkmoes:
From what I have seen in the reporting, I would certainly not permit animals to be sent there.
I can clearly see bad circumstances, too small enclosures, too close to the visitors who can then throw stones at the animals or pester the animals, I find that wrong.
The wild population is under intense pressure and no one should touch animals in the wild.
14:12
VO:
Greg Rasmussen claims that the trade in Painted Dogs is seriously hurting the viability of the wild population.
Title Dr. Greg Rasmussen, Department of Zoology, Oxford University
Greg:
When there are dealers involved, when there's a trade, dogs have to come out of the wild in order to feed that trade. Dogs in the wild can't take that kind of punishment. We know for example that there are at least 200 dogs in China. Well, that represents 10 percent of the population in the wild. With that kind of trade, it's just got to stop. The dogs have got to go onto Cites.
14:48
VO:
Cites is an international agreement between governments, designed to protect wild animals and flora. Its goal is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. But the Painted Dog is not listed on CITES. And the IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, also does not list the animal as being commercially traded, contrary to what we have seen in this report.
15:23
Lower Third: Professor Peter Singer, Bioethics, Princeton University
Peter Singer
The IUCN should be able to see the point that the trade in captive animals is creating a financial incentive for people to remove animals from the wild. The trade creates an incentive to remove them from the wild. And if the point is that we want to prohibit trade that has an adverse impact on the wild population, then clearly we want to prohibit trade in the first generation offspring. Because that just creates an incentive to take the parents out of the wild so that you can breed from them. And then you can call them captive. And then you can trade with them. It seems clear that the African wild dogs are being taken from the wild. And since the wild population is very small, this is obviously contributing to endangering the species. And that surely is the crucial point that we should consider as to whether they should be listed on CITES or not.
16:22
VO:
Bart Staes (pronounced Stays) a leading member of the European parliament got the full assembly behind a resolution that there is significant trade in the dogs, which is affecting the wild population, and that they should be immediately listed on CITES.
Title: Bart Staes, European Parliament
Bart Staes
The evidence in trade is clear, but within the European Union and Commission and certain key individuals, there seems to be a state of denial about this. There's a big trade in African Wild Dogs and this evidence shows that very clearly. There are more than enough Wild Dogs in China. The trade has been very intense in recent years. The man says it himself, when you sell a TV, then another and another, then the market becomes saturated. And the prices go down. This is proof that the trade in African Wild Dogs has already been enormous. So we are somewhat acting after the trade has taken place. This gives us even more reason to put a stop to what is happening.
17:27
VO
Finally we showed the evidence in this film to Dr. Claudio Sillero, an internationally recognized expert in carnivore conservation, and chair of the canid specialist group of the IUCN.
Footage from show
17:43
Lower Third: Dr. Claudio Sillero
Claudio Sillero
Well, it is shocking, simply shocking that there are so many animals that have been exported and that are kept in such appalling conditions. So there's no doubt about that. And also it means that the figures we had as to how many Wild Dogs might be in captivity globally are obviously an underestimate. From the point of view of the long-term persistence of this species that is what concerns us it's certainly unacceptable. Traditionally trade hasn't been an issue on conservation of Wild Dogs. That no longer seems to be the case. With these mass exports of the animals to China and presumably to zoos elsewhere. And therefore its becoming apparent that we need to consider Wild Dogs for CITES listing. In this case, we were unaware of trading being a significant issue in African wild dog conservation. But in the light of what I've seen, this is a cause of great concern and one that should be tackled.
19:02
Peter Singer
Clearly the trade is an unethical one, whatever the law might say about this. And I would argue that the law needs to be changed.
George:
Now we don't know anything about the transactions. We don't know where dogs are going to. We must get them on the CITES list as quickly as possible.
Greg
It's just unbelievable. This trade needs to be regulated.
Claudio
I personally don't think we should be capturing and removing any wild dogs from the wild.
19:41
VO:
The African Painted Dog is still not listed on CITES.
VO:
Of the original 24 dogs from Pilanesberg, only two survived. One of the dogs is caring for 5 orphaned rescued pups with a female dog. They are all being rehabilitated to move back to the wild.
Only 1 Pilanesberg dog is roaming free in the wild, in a pack of 5 other African painted dogs.
PROGRAM SUMMARY
The European Parliament has made a recommendation to put the Wild Dog on the CITES list.
We have asked the South African dealer to give us a reaction to our program but he has declined.