MANILA - A PHILIPPINE wildlife officer is suspected of stealing more than 700 kg of smuggled elephant tusks seized last year, an embarrassing setback for the country's anti-poaching efforts, an official said on Wednesday.
The ivory worth US$65,000 (S$91,000) was part of a 4,000 kg shipment of tusks that was impounded at Manila airport in July and turned over for disposal to the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau, said Theresa Mundita, the agency's director.
Trade in ivory is banned under UN rules. She said the theft of nearly a fifth of the stored tusks was discovered while inventory was being taken on a warehouse on Friday. Seals on some of the boxes were broken and some of the original tusks were replaced by replicas made of PVC pipes covered with plaster, she said.
Wildlife authorities filed administrative charges against a park supervisor, who may also face a criminal case depending on the probe by the National Bureau of Investigation, Ms Mundita said. The suspect, who was not identified, has not returned to work since Friday, she said.
'This is really embarrassing because we should be among the proactive countries protecting internationally important species,' Ms Mundita told The Associated Press.
'It is already a shame that the tusks are smuggled here and the Philippines is an end-market, where the tusks are processed and finished products like carvings are exported from here.' -- AP
