Goat embryos smuggled to Aust., now in N.Z.

Press, 23 May 1988, Page 1

Goat embryos smuggled to Aust., now in N.Z.

By

KEN COATES

Legal action is planned in Australia over ownership of 475 Angora goat embryos on Somes Island quarantine station, smuggled from South Africa 17 months ago. The embryos, from some of the world’s best Angoras, were implanted in 300 surrogate mother goats on Wellington’s maximum security station about seven weeks ago. But Australian breeders, who say they paid $600,000 to finance the smuggling by an Australian syndicate, claim the embryos belong to them. They are planning action in the Supreme Court in Sydney to get them back. They claim the embryos were removed from the Australian quarantine station, Cocos Island, to Somes Island,' via Fremantle, in a secret deal with New Zealand interests. The embryos should be kids by September. As far as the Ministry of Agriculture in New Zealand is concerned, the goats with the embryos are owned by Landcorp, Agricola and Capital Fund Corporation. The story of the embryos is

one of intrigue and double dealing. Their loss is a stunning blow to the Australians, who say the New Zealanders have stolen a big march on them by getting hold of highly prized genetic South African material.

They are more anxious to recover that material than to get their money back. At the centre of the row are three independent Australian Angora breeders who set up a Hong Kong-based company, Gulistan Traders.

They engaged a South African farmer, Mr Roy Wormaid, to buy 275 prize goats and drive them by truck to Zimbabwe. The idea was to take embryos from the goats in Zimbabwe, freeze them and send them to Australia, which, like New Zealand, urgently needs to improve the quality of Angora goat flocks for a more viable industry. About 60 Australian breeders financed the scheme.

The goats arrived in Zimbabwe without mishap, though Australian breeders were told Mr Wormaid had to run the gauntlet of military checkpoints. He was paid sAust4ooo for getting the goats out, against the rules of the.

South African Angora Society, but not against the law of his country. Breeders say the goats were taken to the property of a Mr Joe Kennedy.

Gulistan Traders sold 302 embryos in March this year to a West Australian company, Embryotech.

Australian breeders say that Embryotech agreed to pay $l.l million for the embryos, provided they were delivered to New Zealand.

Gulistan Traders then told the breeders they would be paid in full the money they invested. No such payments had been made, said Mr Alan Hamilton, of Caringa stud, Lockhart, who paid out $35,000 cash to the three Australians.

Instead, the embryos had gone to New Zealand, even though Mr Hamilton made Gulistan Traders, “well aware of our claim to them.”

He understood that of the 475 embryos which went to New Zealand, 175 belonged to Diamond Fibres (a subsidiary of Capital Fund) and 300 to Embryotech. Diamond Fibres were to have paid $300,000 to Gulistan Traders

for their embryos, but only $150,000 had been collected, of which Australian breeders had got nothing. Mr Hamilton believes another New Zealand firm, Agricola, in which the financier, Sir Francis Renouf, had an interest, was involved.

This company, also trading in Cashmere goats, had joined forces with the three Australians mounting the South African operation, Messrs Tony Maw, Jack Mclver and Dean Benyon. They had traded under yet another company known as MBM Pty, Ltd. The Australian breeders, who say a man reputed to be a former C.I.A. agent was paid for security services, and funds were frittered away on travelling and high living in Harare, while the embryos were collected. The surrogate goats are under a rigorous 60-day initial quarantine because they originated from Zimbabwe, a high risk source, according to the Ministry of Agriculture’s import-export officer in Wellington, Mr Vaughan Seed. Sale of the progeny of the goats is banned for five years because of the risk of scrapie, a virus infection.