Where this was said
Anson Wong and the Zoo Connection: Where Did Zoos Get Their Animals?
At 55:15 · chapter starts 51:40
The conversation takes a jaw-dropping turn when Eric Goode reveals that many of the rare reptiles displayed in celebrated American zoos came, indirectly, from wildlife smugglers. Anson Wong of Malaysia — described as the number one reptile and animal smuggling kingpin in the world — was running illegal shipments of Komodo dragons and other rare species to buyers across the globe when he was caught in a sting operation, extradited to the US, and sentenced to what was at the time the longest wildlife crime sentence in American history. [1] — Eric Goode "Anson Wong from Malaysia was the Pablo Escobar of the global reptile trade, supplying rare animals — including Komodo dragons — to buyers a…" 51:50 The animals seized in that sting didn't go back to the wild — they went to the LA Zoo, San Diego Zoo, and the Bronx Zoo, institutions that benefited from smuggling operations they had no knowledge of. The Komodo dragon that bit Sharon Stone's husband at the Los Angeles Zoo was one of those animals.
Anson Wong from Malaysia was the Pablo Escobar of the global reptile trade, supplying rare animals — including Komodo dragons — to buyers across the world. He was caught in a sting, extradited to the US, and served the longest wildlife crime sentence at the time. The animals seized from him went on to stock some of America's biggest zoos.
