The authorities have seized these three lions which were living on a small roof terrace in the middle of the Mexican capital after the owner refused to hand them over.
Local media report the operation to seize the animals began when students at a nearby university spotted the big cats on the roof of the home in the Viaducto Piedad colony, between the delegations of Iztacalco and Benito Juarez, in Mexico City, the capital of Mexico.
The authorities were called and officers broke into the home of Omar Rodriguez and found the three lions on the small roof terrace.
Images taken from the scene show the big cats on the terrace, with one of the animals pacing and jumping up on the cage they are being kept in.
Rodriguez is said to have refused to hand the felines over as he claims to have the legal documentation to keep them on his property.
However, the big cats were secured by agents from the Federal Attorney’s Office for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA) as the property was not registered as an installation where wildlife could be kept.
A press statement from the authorities added: “The felines were transferred to a specialised unit in managing wild species to guarantee they are given attention and care.”
Local animal rights activist and advocate Karla Loranca told Central European News (CEN): “Not many cubs sold as pets reach adulthood under the care of people with no knowledge, will or means to take proper care of them. The ones that do, display in their bodies the sad print of their past: malnourishment, battery, boredom, sadness, loss of their dignity.
“A lifetime confined on a rooftop, chained, eating frozen meat, with nothing to do but lick their own paws until the skin falls off: that’s the sad fate of dozens of wild animals sold on the Mexican black market.”
She added: “Sadly, the trafficking of exotic species in Mexico is not new and it’s not uncommon. Everyone knows that in popular markets, such as Mercado de Sonora, you can find from capuchin monkeys to tiger or lion cubs for sale as pets; illegally brought into the country, the market flourishes as more people with a lot of curiosity, some money and little intelligence build up a demand that a chain of corruption is willing to fill up, under the tacit consent of the government, which lacks authority in markets such as the aforementioned.”
The investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been reported.
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Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
