Mexico’s Lucrative Black-Market Sale of Rare Animals Worries Ecology Groups

The smuggling and illegal sale of a wide range of rare animals in Mexico to U.S. and European buyers, along with the destruction of jungle areas and pollution, is bringing many species to the point of extinction, ecology groups say.

The howler monkey, the Tamazate deer, the tapir, wolves and felines like the ocelot and the jaguar, along with 50 species of tropical birds, could soon disappear in Mexico.

The sale of Mexican animals to foreigners through catalogues is a highly lucrative business, ecology activists say.

Animals are sold mainly to U.S. and European markets, in many cases resulting in million-dollar profits for the animal traffickers.

Big Business

A recently released report from the ecology organization Group for Life demanded that the government act to prevent the illegal sales of animals.

“The illegal buying and selling of animals is a million-dollar business and can be compared with drug trafficking--that’s why we need greater control and more regulations to stop the illegal sale of animals,” said a Group For Life member Carlos Leon Reyes.

“What’s lacking is economic resources, honesty and the political will to save the the lives of our animals. We’re losing respect for life,” he said.

“Customers in the United States alone buy an average of 35,000 illegal birds a year, which come principally from Mexico and Bolivia. It is serious because many of the species exported from Mexico are part of the fauna in danger of extinction,” Leon Reyes added.

‘Damage to Wildlife’

Although the sale of animals that the Mexican government has declared in danger of extinction is illegal, practically any animal can be bought on the black market.

“The local sale (within Mexico) already implies a huge damage to the wildlife,” Leon Reyes said. “Just the sale of a single baby falcon, an eagle or an ocelot probably meant that at the least 50 animals were killed to get a litter.”

Leon Reyes said it is typical that animals, after several weeks of captivity away from their environment, become seriously weakened and sick, with many of them dying.

The Sonora market in the center of Mexico City is full of vendors selling animals that are on the endangered list, such as the toucan, a brightly colored tropical bird noted for its enormous beak.

Birds of Prey Popular

“We have a list of the animals nearing extinction that are most widely sold, from spiders to mammals, including felines that are sold for a high price for their fur in the foreign market,” Leon Reyes said.

He said the Sonora market typically sells 700 specimens of about 15 different birds of prey each week. Many others are sold in small pet shops or in moving markets “with nothing done to stop it.”

“There are macaws that are selling for $15,000,” he said.

“The serious destruction of wildlife forces us to join together to try to preserve the different types of animals in Mexico in danger of extinction,” said a recent statement from another ecology group, Pro Jungle Life.

Laws Put Into Effect

Recently, the government put in effect “100 Necessary Ecology Actions,” among which are several laws protecting endangered species.

“Despite numerous efforts in the past, alterations in the native habitats and the natural refuges of rare animals still persist. This will gradually decrease as the population becomes aware of the problem,” an Ecology Ministry statement said.

Mexico is the third largest country in Latin America, and its geography includes large tropical jungle regions in the south, widespread forests in its central plateau and desert zones along the length of its border with the United States.

The Convention of the International Trade of Endangered Wildlife, known by its Spanish acronym as CITES, said the clandestine trade of animals in Mexico is responsible for the massive elimination of numerous animal and plant species.

Move to Protect Wildlife

CITES was begun in 1975 to protect wildlife.