The Spanish police claim to have saved 19 exotic cats from a house on the island of Majorca who were directed on sale on the growing illegal world market for large cats and arrested the Russian couple who owned them.
With the question of large felines such as lions and tigers at the top in some quarters – some consider them a status symbol – there is a lively activity for the criminal rings that traffic in them, even if the animals are protected or in danger of extinction.
In a Monday declaration announcing the arrests, the Spanish authorities said that the two suspicions have been linked to a smuggling ring that works on several continents. “The prisoners have sold various international animal species through internet portals, including white tigers, black leopards, iene and pumas,” they said.
When the police broke into their home, they said, they found a caracal – a remarkable cat for its elongated ears – and two servants, as well as 16 hybrids. International travel documents were also discovered from Russia, Belarus and China for over 40 other animals, the police said.
“The operation discovered a global criminal organization involving breeders, transporters and veterinarians,” they said.
While much of the exotic trade for pets is legal, a peak of the demand attributed largely to the popularity of unusual pets on social media in the last ten years has led to an increase in illegal trafficking. This in turn contributed to the exhaustion of populations in nature, affirm conservationists.
The demand for large cats has increased even if the regulations to protect them have been increasingly implemented. In the Persian Gulf, exotic pets are now an indispensable accessory for many of the rich. Some may have been inspired by the images of the hereditary prince of Dubai, Hamdan Bin Mohammed al-Maktoum, with his home lion, Moochi.
Even in the Balkans, large cats have become popular while the influencers publish photos of their felines on social media. And large traffic has become large affair in South Africa, where environmentalists say that criminal networks exploit fragmented regulations.
Illegal wildlife trade takes about $ 20 billion around the world every year, according to Interpol, and is intertwined with other criminal activities. In February, the international police organization said that almost 20,000 animals, all endangered or protected species, had been saved in a global operation with the world customs organization. Among these were 18 great cats.
A United Nations report of 2024 on the crime for wildlife stated that “organized crime is evident in various specialized roles for wildlife trafficking, such as export, import, brokering, storage, maintenance and reproduction of alive champions or manage the interface with the processors”.
In 2022 the United States exceeded the Big Cat Public Security Act, which placed restrictions on the breeding, sale and private property of some exotic felines, including lions, tigers, leopards, snow leopards, jaguars, cougars, clouded leopards and ghepardi. A 2020 Netflix documentary on a man who managed an exotic animal park in Oklahoma, “Tiger King”, helped to feed the passage of the law.
Since animal trafficking is an international deal, environmentalists say, braking requires a unified global approach.
Since 1975, a multilateral agreement has been in force called the International Commerce Convention on extinguishing species, but with only a limited success. The pact “has never intended to face wildlife trafficking as a serious transnational crime”, said Dr. Meganne Natali, legal consultant specialized in crime and conservation of wildlife.
“The efforts to combat wildlife traffic require a decisive movement to harmonized and dissuasive criminal penalties internationally,” said dr. Christmas.