Italian vet spends income on sheltering smuggled animals / 義走私動物猖獗 愛心獸醫自費收容　　　　　　　　　　

Animal trafficking is the fourth most lucrative crime business worldwide after weapons, drugs, and human smuggling. It remains an unsolved problem for customs to arrange for the confiscated animals. An Italian vet, however, has been using his income to take care of these animals for about a decade. Umberto Cara drives his jeep to Rome's famous Appia Antica Park every morning. Inside the park, there is a veterinary clinic called "Our Animal Kingdom." The six-hectare clinic is home to rare and exotic animals confiscated by the customs. ==UMBERTO CARA, veterinary surgeon== This center also hosts exotic animals, taken from people who are not allowed to keep them. In general, these animals are owned illegally, they arrive at airports and ports or are found by forest rangers or other security forces. In Italy, 400 exotic animals are confiscated every year. Out of passion for wild animals, the vet has been using his income to take care of these animals for about a decade. Now there are exotic turtles, deer, boars, parrots and even lemurs in the clinic. The cages are also reinforced to contain dangerous animals. As to the release of these animals, it is difficult to return them to their countries of origin. ==UMBERTO CARA, veterinary surgeon== Reintroducing these animals into their original environment is possible, but very unlikely, because it needs a two-way project between Italy and the country the animal comes from, which then would have to collect it. It's possible but it's unlikely. Trafficking both live animals and their body parts is a big money earner for crime syndicates. Rhino horn can be sold for about NT$ 4 million per kilo on the black market. ==AFFAELE MANICONE, chief of the Italian branch of CITES== Big African criminal groups, such as IS, Boko Haram, Al Shabaab, start off by making money through this kind of illegal trade. Today, they are the bosses of so-called 'wildlife crime'. Trafficking fauna and flora is worth US $30 billion a year globally. It is the fourth most lucrative crime business worldwide after weapons, drugs, and human smuggling. TRANSLATED BY：ARIEL HSIEH 義大利獸醫安貝羅卡拉，每天早上都要開著吉普車，到羅馬知名的阿皮亞古蹟公園，他在園區裡開闢了六公頃大的我們的動物王國獸醫院，專收被海關查獲的珍貴野生動物，像是巨蟒，狐猴，甚至還有一條從毒梟家後院裡救出的美洲鱷。 ==獸醫 安貝羅 卡拉== 這個中心也收容稀有動物 民眾非法飼養的那些 總的來說 全都是非法的 義大利當局每年平均查獲四百隻走私的珍禽異獸，安貝羅醫師出於對動物的熱情，十年來自掏腰包照顧養育這些無辜的動物，從住所，醫藥費到伙食費全包。現在園區內還有鹿，野豬，陸龜，鸚鵡，猿猴等多種生物，儼然就是野生動物園。其中部分動物具有危險性，必須強化籠舍，但想把他們送回原生國家野放，並不容易。 ==獸醫 安貝羅 卡拉== 有這種可能 但很難實現 因為這需要義大利 跟原產國家雙方面合作 還涉及運送接管的問題 所以可能性是有的 但不高 無論走私活體野生動物，或犀牛角，老虎皮等身體部位，都是跨國犯罪集團撈錢的管道，犀牛角黑市價每公斤上看九萬歐元，折合台幣將近四十萬，稀有的木材也價格不斐，總計全球動植物的走私，每年總額達300億美元，是僅次於武器，毒品跟人口走私，全球利潤第四高的犯罪產業。 ==華盛頓公約義大利分部主任 曼尼康== 大型的非洲犯罪組織 像是伊斯蘭國 博科聖地 還有青年軍等等 都靠這種非法貿易起家 至今仍是這類犯罪的大老闆 活潑的長臂猿二人組，泰伊跟瑪特蒂，來自遙遠的泰國，因為有安貝羅醫師相助，顛沛流離的厄運從此柳暗花明，在異鄉有了安身立命之處，跟許多同病相憐的動物一樣，跟醫師變成了好朋友。 記者 施慧中 報導