Dubai: "If selling cubs is illegal, I will not sell them," said Mamdouh Al Helou, the seller of two lion cubs brought to the UAE for a circus in Abu Dhabi when Gulf News gave him the right to respond on his offer to illegally sell the cubs for Dh35,000 to undercover journalists.
Al Helou said he did not know that selling the two cubs is illegal in the UAE. He admitted however that he was aware that the CITES permit that he obtained in bringing the circus animals to the country required him to exit the country with all the animals he brought in.
"Arrangements can be made [to bypass that requirement]," he said. "We can get a death certificate, for example," he said.
When asked if he knew his actions constituted a violation of the CITES, he said he did not know. "[If they are] then khalas [that's it]. We won't sell."
Lions are listed under CITES in Appendix II. International trade in specimens of Appendix-II species may be authorised by the granting of an export permit or re-export certificate.
Asked if he had any permits authorising him to sell the cubs in the UAE, Al Helou said, "No."
"In Egypt we always sell [without any problems]," he insisted. "It's legal there."
He also said that all the animals had the required vaccinations and were in good health. Gulf News's investigation however revealed that the cubs, suffering from an apparent calcium deficiency, could not walk, while Al Helou reaffirmed in another phone call to what he believed was a potential buyer that he could "get anything, but not giraffes. That's a bit more difficult."
