[Animals] A reward of 20 million pesos to capture the hunters of two jaguars in Antioquia

[Draeno]

 

The Ministry of the Environment and the National Police have offered a reward of 20 million pesos for people who provide useful information to capture the hunters of two jaguars in Ituango, in northern Antioquia. The deaths of the animals, specimens of an endangered species, occurred in less than a week.

The Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Susana Muhamad, announced the offer and recalled the legal implications of illegal hunting of animals in the country: "Hunting in Colombia is an environmental crime that is sanctioned by law 21-11 of 2021, and can lead to imprisonment of between 16 and 54 months, and fines of between 37 and 937 minimum wages.” In addition, he indicated that, if the peasant communities know of the presence of jaguars in a region, they should contact the environmental authorities to treat the animals appropriately.

Colonel William Castaño, director of Carabineros and Environmental Protection of the National Police, reported for his part that the Gelma group, the team of the Attorney General's Office in charge of investigating cases of animal abuse, is dealing with the case, while that the Police carry out investigations to locate the hunters.

The Regional Autonomous Corporation of the Center of Antioquia (Corantioquia) has explained that, together with the Ituango Mayor's Office, it has verified the veracity of a video that has been disseminated on social networks and that shows the moment in which a man kills one of the jaguars. The corporation indicates that it is likely a case of retaliatory hunting, since the animal had allegedly eaten several cattle on properties in the villages of El Aro, La Granja and Santa Rita, in that municipality.

The inappropriate use of natural resources, added to the increase in human po[CENSORED]tions, has caused problems between the people of that region of Antioquia and wild cats, explains Corantioquia. In the north of the department, these problems have worsened due to the felling and burning of forests, extensive cattle ranching, and the hunting of wild animals that are prey to both jaguars and pumas.

According to resolution 19-12 of 2017 of the Ministry of Environment, the jaguar is in the category of "vulnerable status", which includes those species that face a high risk of extinction in the wild. According to the environmental NGO WWF, the main threats to the jaguar are illegal trafficking, conflict with humans, climate change, and the loss and degradation of their habitat due to the increase in mining, logging, and the growth of the border. agricultural.

 

https://elpais.com/america-colombia/2023-05-22/una-recompensa-de-20-millones-de-pesos-para-capturar-a-los-cazadores-de-dos-jaguares-en-antioquia.html