:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/NLJP2X3265GEBAXNSJVVVFKRW4.jpg "A stranger had a puma, a macaw and two white-faced monkeys in his house. 1")
The Regional Autonomous Corporation of the Negro and Nare River Basins (Cornare) in joint work with the National Prosecutor’s Office and the Antioquia Police They carried out a control and surveillance operation in a housein the rural area of the municipality of Guatapé, for a alleged illegal possession of wildlife.
The operation was carried out after receiving complaints from citizens, through social networkslinked to the alleged illegal possession in a house in this commune of a puma, a macaw and two white-faced monkeys.
As detailed by Cornare, the first investigations enabled the authorities to give the location of the housein which the individuals of wild fauna were presumably found, and which apparently were in the possession of a citizen of Canadian nationality.
During the operation, which took place on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, the authorities managed to collect evidence which showed that It was the same site where the videos were recorded, which have been broadcast on social networks, and where it is possible to detail the individuals sharing the fauna with several people.
However, at the time of research on the site indicated no trace of owner foundnor any trace of the wild animals involved.
The macaw, the two white-faced monkeys and the puma are said to be outside Cornare’s jurisdiction, but under pressure from authorities and social media users, the foreign citizen accused of having wild animals contacted the authorities competent to carry out a voluntary surrender.
Based on the evidence collected by the prosecution, the police and Cornare, they would continue to carry out search activities for those involved in the case and the wildlife in captivity.
“In addition, actions will be taken to advance the corresponding environmental sanction procedure,” Cornare said.
On the other hand, officials from the company and the Antioquia police carried out two operations to address other complaints related to the illegal possession of wild animals, in the rural area of the municipalities of El Carmen de Viboral and of Guatape, where eight individuals of different species were seized.
During the operation carried out in El Carmen de Viboral, they found:
- A lynx (Mimus gilvus)
- Two Yellow-throated Parrots (Amazon Amazon)
- A Morrocoy tortoise (Chelonoidis carbonarius)
- A squirrel (Syntheosciurus granatensis)
- Two African hedgehogs – exotic species (Atelerix albiventris)
Regarding the operation in Guatapé, the authorities managed to save a blue-yellow macaw.
For its part, the Environment Secretariat of Bogota specified that the most commercialized wild species and having illegally as pets are: parrots, turtles, white-faced monkeys, dirty-faced parrots, tarantulas, snakes, among others.
Regarding an illegal activity, the environmental entity added that the mechanisms used for the extraction, transport and marketing are cruel, which determines that many of them die and few manage to reach their destination alive.
Environmental authorities have recalled that the illegal hunting, transport, sale and possession of wild animals are practices considered an environmental crime and are sanctioned in accordance with Law 1333 of 2009 “environmental sanction process”.
Under Article 328 of the Penal Code, which refers to the illicit use of renewable natural resources, individuals who appropriate, extract, exploit and keep wildlife in captivity are liable to penalties between 48 and 108 months in prison.
Finally, to safeguard Colombian wildlife, the Ministry of the Environment has invited citizens to denounce or report cases of threats involving these individuals. People can contact +57 6013323400, WhatsApp +57 3102213891 and the national free line: 018000919301.