Spanish police say they have saved 19 exotic maximums from a house on the island of Majorca, who have been for sale on the growing illegal world of large cats, and arrested the Russian couple who owned them.
With demand for large models like lions and tigers high in some districts – some consider them a status symbol – there is a quick job for criminal rings that operate in them, even if animals are protected or endangered species.
In a statement on Monday, announcing the arrests, the Spanish authorities announced that two suspects were related to a smuggling ring that affects several continent. “The prisoners sold different animal species at internationally through internet portals, including white tigers, black leopards, hiene and pumas,” they said.
When police executed an executive food house, they said, they found a Karakal – a cat that was noted in elongated ears – and two servants, as well as 16 hybrids. International travel documents from Russia, Belarus and China for more than 40 other animals have also been discovered, police said.
“Operation discovered a global criminal organization that includes growers, transporters and veterinarians,” they said.
Although much of the exotic pet trafficks around the world is legal, demanding demand for great extent attached to the popularity of unusual animal supporting animals on social media over the past decade has led to an increase in human trafficking. This in turn contributed to the exhaustion of the population in the wild, Conservators say.
The demand for large cats increased even when the regulations for protection were increasingly set up. In the Persian Bay Exotic Pets are now a Required accessory For many rich. Some could have been inspired by the pictures of Crown Prince Dubai, Hamdan bin Mohammed al-Maktoum, with his Five lion, Moochi.
And in the Balkans there are big cats become popular As influencers, they post photos of their models on social networks. And has become a trade of big cats Big job in South Africawhere conservators say criminal networks use the advantage of fragmented regulations.
Illegal wildlife trade takes around $20 billion global business According to Interpol, it is intertwined with other criminal activities annually. In February, the International Police Organization said that almost 20,000 animals, all endangered or protected species, were saved in a global operation with the World Customs Organization. There were 18 large cats among them.
2024. United Nations Wildlife Crime Report He said “organized crime is visible in various specialized roles for wildlife trade, such as exports, imports, mediation, storage, storage and growing of live patterns or handling a processors.”
The Spanish authorities have announced that the big cats that have declared the suspects arrested probably smuggled to Europe from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Because animal trade is an international affair, conservators say that control of illegal wildlife trade requires a unique global approach to implementation and regulation.
The United States 2022. They passed Law on Public Safety of the Great Catwhich set up limits to cultivation, sale and private ownership of some exotic fats, including lions, tigers, leopards, snow leopards, jaguars, cougare, blurred leopards and gepards. Netflix documentary from 2020. About the man who led the exotic animal park in Oklahoma, “Tiger King, helped the adoption of the fuel law.
Because animal trade is an international affair, conservators say that suppression requires a unique global approach.
Since 1975, a multilateral agreement has been in force called the Convention on International Trade of Threatened Types, but with only limited success. The pact “has never been intended for wildlife trade as a serious transnational crime,” said Dr. Meganne Natalie, a legal advisor specializing in the crime and preservation of wildlife.
“The efforts to fight the wildlife trade require a decisive shift towards aligned and disgusting criminal sanctions internationally,” said Dr. Natalie.