The recent rescue of a baby gorilla, a victim of international smuggling, raises an urgent question about our environmental commitment: what should we do in the long term with seized animals to ensure their welfare and species conservation?
The illicit trafficking of wildlife is not an isolated episode but an essential part of transnational organized crime and represents one of the most lucrative illegal activities worldwide, along with arms, drugs, and human trafficking. This activity not only has devastating consequences for nature but also constitutes a huge physical and emotional trauma for individuals violently taken from their group and transported without the slightest sanitary precaution, generating zoonotic risks.
Currently, this criminal structure has reached an extremely sophisticated level, employing complex logistical routes and exploiting legislative gaps to operate across borders. Combating this phenomenon requires strong cooperation among various international actors and the implementation of clear state policies capable of harmoniously coordinating border surveillance, criminal prosecution, and ecological damage repair. In this complex context, the case of the baby gorilla Zeytin, as he was named, acquires notable relevance.
On the eve of Christmas 2024, the authorities at Istanbul airport intercepted this baby gorilla, just five months old, hidden in a box within a shipment of rabbits, on a flight from Nigeria to Thailand. Dressed in a child’s T-shirt and with a frightened and helpless look, his image quickly went viral in international media.
Gorilla Zeytin: international smuggling
Turkey, due to its undeniable strategic position as a geographical bridge and commercial link between Africa and Asia, faces the challenge of managing an increasing number of illegal wildlife trafficking cases. By rescuing Zeytin, customs authorities demonstrated an exemplary initial action and reaffirmed their crucial role as a transit country.
However, after receiving stabilization care in a private zoo in Istanbul, Zeytin has remained detained and isolated in that establishment for fifteen months. Since the end of last year, when Turkish authorities ruled out the possibility of repatriating the baby to Nigeria, the dissemination of official information and the moving videos that previously flooded social networks have ceased. This lack of resolution, despite an elaborated proposal by specialized organizations, has generated serious concern in the international scientific community and civil society organizations.
The illegal trafficking of protected species operates through a criminal network that inevitably involves three actors: the country of origin, the transit country, and the final destination. To combat and dismantle this scourge, seizure, while essential, is not enough. It is indispensable to promote investigations to determine the material and intellectual authors of the crime and, in coordination with the authorities of each involved country, proceed with legal actions leading to the dismantling of these criminal networks. Alongside this effort, it is imperative to close the circle by ensuring an ethical and biological appropriate destination for the rescued individual.
Science and international standards establish clear guidelines on this issue. Both the provisions of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and the protocols of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) strongly recommend the repatriation of seized live animals to their area of origin, when it is not possible to determine the country of origin, as long as there are suitable infrastructures to continue with their rehabilitation.
In the African continent, for more than twenty years, there have been specialized centers in primate rehabilitation, especially for great apes. These centers offer natural environments and consider individuals of the same species to form the necessary groups for their complex social and cognitive development. Moreover, they have developed considerable experience in successful cases of return to nature in protected areas, specifically with western lowland gorillas, like Zeytin.
This scientific consensus currently has strong diplomatic support. Indeed, in 2025, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted, for the first time and by vote, Resolution A/RES/79/313 on the fight against illicit trafficking. In its paragraph 41, this historic document encourages member states to strengthen international cooperation to facilitate the timely repatriation of live animals subject to illegal trade, in accordance with the CITES Convention. It is essential to highlight that, of the 157 favorable votes, this resolution was supported by Turkey and Argentina.
The case of Zeytin constitutes an invaluable opportunity to promote truly efficient, responsible, and coherent environmental diplomacy. Turning a successful customs operation into an ecologically sustainable outcome requires transit countries to complete their work by facilitating the return to their region of origin of the seized individuals, thus honoring international commitments and contributing to the recovery of global biodiversity.
By: Susana Pataro, career diplomat, ambassador (J), was Argentina’s representative to UNESCO and ambassador to Nigeria. Currently, she is a member of the Board of Directors of the Jane Goodall Global Institute.
