NewsLatin AmericaTwo pumas, a Bengal tiger and a white lion: the police find 47 animals on a property in the State of Mexico

Two pumas, a Bengal tiger and a white lion: the police find 47 animals on a property in the State of Mexico

One of the Bengal tigers rescued during the operation of the State of Mexico Prosecutor’s Office.FGJEM

There are the photos. A white lion lying quietly in the sun, an African tiger sleeping in the shade of his cage, and a white fox prowling the grounds. In a search of a piece of land in Huixquilucan, in the State of Mexico, the authorities have found 47 live animals, seven stuffed exotic animals, and several clandestine taps for the huachicoleo, the illegal extraction of fuel for sale. The police have arrested eight people and the property has been secured until they determine what they are going to do with the animals.

Upon entering the property, the agents found 25 exotic animals. In addition to the lion and the tiger, there were two pumas, a Bengal tiger, a deer, a gray fox, a coyote, an owl, and several eagles, “among others,” adds the Prosecutor’s Office in its report. Inside the house there were 7 stuffed animals. One of the photos shows a deer in an awkward position, with its hind legs in the air, as if it is in full flight from the stuffed fox behind it.

The first clues suggest that, to finance this kind of private zoo, the detainees were selling stolen fuel. The property had everything necessary to carry out this activity: a container with 14,000 liters of diesel, buses, machinery, pipes, motorcycles, and an installation connected to the subsoil that could possibly lead to a clandestine intake of hydrocarbons. A possible clandestine tap for water extraction was also found, reports the Prosecutor’s Office.

The authorities have not reported on the status of the animals found on the property. The images that the Prosecutor’s Office has released show the lions and tigers, apparently, in good condition. Although they have not left the enclosure in which they have been confined for a long time. The laws allow having these animals but not walking them, because they are considered too dangerous for the general population. Although getting them is becoming easier thanks to social networks.

In addition to the most remote areas of some flea market Where prohibited animals have always been available, Facebook has a large market for exotic species. Just a few clicks on the computer you can find Facebook groups with the name of “Sale of wild animals”, “Exotic animals CDMX [Ciudad de Mexico]”, as this newspaper found in a recent report. There you can get everything from jaguars, an endangered species, to hawks, Russian tortoises and chameleons. If the user wishes, in a matter of days he can have one of the strangest owls at the door of his house. And all without signing a single piece of paper.

The responsibilities for the purchase of this type of exotic animals go beyond the seller. It also affects those who illegally buy this animal, especially if it is in danger of extinction. Then he could commit a crime as an “accomplice in international trafficking” of animal species prohibited by Mexican law, they say from Semarnat. Even if the buyer gets his exotic animal with all the papers, the responsibility does not end there. If the horse does not receive the necessary care, it can be sanctioned with fines that go up to 75,000 UMA, about 7.2 million pesos. Possession of protected animals can be punished by up to nine years in prison.

The future of the rescued animals is uncertain. It depends on its origin. Semarnat transfers some of them to authorized centers for their care, while others, wild animals of national origin, try to return them to their natural habitat. According to the secretariat, the animals that are most illegally traded in Mexico are the yellow-headed parakeet, the scarlet and green macaw, the yellow-breasted toucan, the spider monkey and the howler monkey, among many others.

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