The transfer of four rare gorillas from an African country by a leading zoo in Malaysia early this year could have violated an international code of ethics, said the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (Waza).

"Waza is worried that by this transaction, the code of ethics adopted by the association and its members may have been violated and [Waza will cooperate] with the relevant authorities to investigate the matter," its president Dr Alex Rübel said in a statement last week.

He said his organisation is working with its regional partners as well as the international wildlife watchdog, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites), in probing the matter.

The Taiping Zoo acquired four baby lowland gorillas, one male and three females, from Nigeria in January this year.

Lowland gorillas are an endangered species listed on Appendix I of the Cites, which means any commercial trade on them is illegal and only captive-bred animals are allowed to be exchanged.

When the controversial transfer was reported in April, Taiping Zoo authority clarified that it was done under an exchange programme with the University of Ibadan Zoological Garden in Nigeria.

The permit issued by the Nigerian Cites authority stated that the four gorillas were captive-bred and documentation for the transfer was confirmed by the Malaysian Wildlife and National Parks Department to be in order.

However, conservation groups claimed there is no such breeding programme in the Nigerian zoo. They suggested that the documents could have been forged and called for a full investigation into the matter.

Likely to be wild caught

Concurring with the allegations raised by the conservation groups, Rübel said there is strong evidence that the information contained in the permit is not correct.

"As Ibadan never has had a breeding group of gorillas, it is very unlikely they have been bred there, and Waza has to assume they were not from Ibadan and were likely to be wild caught," he said.

Rübel pointed out that his Waza network of zoos operates gorilla breeding programmes which has a healthy and growing population of gorillas.

"The coordinators of these programmes were not consulted by Taiping Zoo when it decided to acquire the animals from Nigeria," he said.

Taiping Zoo is not a member of the Waza network.

No place for code breakers

According to Rübel, the Waza's code of ethics compels members to provide the highest standards of care to animals.

It also requests that zoos acquiring animals do not violate any national or international law in the process or have negative effect upon the wild population.

"In case of doubt about the validity of a certificate issued under Cites, zoos should use all sources of information to ensure that all regulations have been respected," he said.

Rübel explained that while Taiping Zoo is not a member of Waza, it is linked to the world body through a member regional association — the Southeast Asian Zoo Association (Seaza).

"Many other zoos, while not members of Waza themselves, belong to a regional association which has agreed to this code and in this way the influence of the code is widened," he said.

"Those associations and zoological institutions, which do not adhere to a strict code of ethics and to international law, have no place in our organisation or in the professional zoo community," he said.

Taiping Zoo declined to comment about this matter.

Early this month, the Cites secretariat has instructed both Malaysian and Nigerian authorities to facilitate its investigation on the matter, which is currently underway.