DNA Twist Alters Repatriation Calculus
Five-month-old Zeytin slipped into global headlines after customs officers opened a wooden crate in the hold of a Lagos–Bangkok flight during a stopover at Istanbul Airport in late December. What looked like a routine seizure of an illicit pet became a diplomatic conundrum once Turkish veterinarians stabilised the dehydrated primate.
Initial plans sounded simple: fly Zeytin back to Lagos so a Nigerian sanctuary could prepare him for release. Ankara’s geneticists then ran precautionary tests at the University of Ankara laboratory and found that the infant is a western lowland gorilla, a species that does not occur naturally in Nigeria. The report overturned every earlier arrangement.
Nigeria’s Conservation Hopes Thwarted
For Liza Gadsby, director of the foundation selected to receive Zeytin in Nigeria, Ankara’s reversal “has no logic”. She maintains that returning the gorilla to Africa, even if his precise birthplace is unknown, remains the least disruptive choice for animal welfare and regional conservation efforts.
Nigeria’s wildlife authorities had formally requested the return, arguing that keeping the primate on the continent would streamline rehabilitation before any eventual reintroduction. The Turkish announcement that Zeytin would instead stay permanently in a zoo outside Istanbul blindsided Abuja and jeopardised months of coordination between the two governments’ environment agencies.
Ankara’s Reading of CITES Under Scrutiny
Turkish officials defend their stance by invoking the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, ratified by both countries. Because the test proved Nigeria is not Zeytin’s range state, they contend, CITES obliges them to prevent a relocation that could mask the gorilla’s true origin.
Gadsby counters that the same treaty obliges signatories to facilitate repatriation to appropriate habitats whenever feasible. “They did the right thing by seizing him,” she concedes, yet retaining the animal “runs counter to everything CITES is meant to achieve.” The disagreement underscores the grey zones conservation lawyers still debate five decades after the convention’s birth.
For now, Zeytin receives specialised care in the wooded hills above Istanbul, far from the equatorial forests his species evolved to roam. Turkish zookeepers insist the setting meets international welfare norms, but critics say prolonged captivity could hamper any future attempt at rewilding.
Trafficking Routes and Rising Demand
While the legal wrangle unfolds, the British NGO Traffic reminds policymakers that the smuggling of infant apes is expanding. Black-market buyers covet gorillas as manageable pets or exotic status symbols, fuelling sophisticated supply chains that slip through African, Middle-Eastern and Asian transit hubs.
Zeytin’s itinerary—Nigeria to Thailand via Turkey—mirrors those networks. Each segment offers concealment opportunities, from forged export permits to misdeclared cargo. Authorities intercepted this shipment, yet Traffic warns that many others evade detection, eroding already fragile ape populations.
Western lowland gorillas, listed as critically endangered, face habitat loss and hunting pressure even inside protected zones. Traffickers exacerbate the decline by removing infants after poachers kill adult group members, a toll no DNA test can redeem.
Paths Ahead for Zeytin and the Signatories
Ankara says it will keep consulting CITES bodies before issuing a final decision, but no timetable has emerged. Abuja, meanwhile, prepares a diplomatic note reiterating its preference for African custody and requesting joint monitoring of the gorilla’s welfare.
Regardless of who prevails, Zeytin’s ordeal exposes the procedural gaps that traffickers exploit and signatories interpret differently. Closing those gaps may prove as urgent as choosing the forest—or the enclosure—where one infant gorilla will grow up.
