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

[Mr.Hacker]

 

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. The search carried out by the authorities in a piece of land in the State of Mexico has revealed 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 regulation on exotic animals in Mexico varies depending on the animal in question. The Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) considers that tigers cannot be taken for a walk or be considered pets, because they are predators and are regulated by the General Law of Wildlife. Even so, Mexican laws allow you to have an exotic animal as long as they are not considered endangered, such as the scarlet macaw or howler monkey. In addition, the papers must be in order and the animal must receive dignified and respectful treatment.

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 po[CENSORED]tion. Although getting them is becoming easier thanks to social networks.

In addition to the most remote areas of some street markets where prohibited animals have always been found, Facebook has a large market for exotic species. Just a few clicks away on the computer, you can find Facebook groups with the name “Sale of wild animals”, “Animales exóticos CDMX [Mexico City]”, 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.

https://elpais.com/mexico/2023-04-06/dos-pumas-un-tigre-de-bengala-y-un-leon-blanco-la-policia-encuentra-47-animales-en-un-predio-del-estado-de-mexico.html