Colombia will investigate “use of wildlife by-products in television programs”

On Tuesday night, the Colombian Minister of the Environment, Carlos Eduardo Correa, announced that he is verifying the use of wildlife by-products in television programs.

Deer, shark, crocodile and capybara? Masterchef Ecuador promoted consumption of wild animals protected by national laws, environmentalists accuse

This occurs after the broadcast of the Masterchef Ecuador program in which the contestants were asked to prepare various dishes with capybara meat, tollo shark, venison and crocodile. The situation led to the claim of environmental groups and in turn the rejection of the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment with “the promotion and dissemination of graphic or audiovisual content that encourages the purchase and consumption of wild species or their constituent elements.”

The program that is broadcast on Teleamazonas is filmed in Colombia. Correa pointed out that together with the Prosecutor’s Office of that country, the verification of the information that circulates on social networks will be given. He also clarified that the “trafficking and commercialization of wildlife is a crime in Colombia.”

All four species are wild and are in different categories of danger of extinction or there is insufficient data to determine the risk of their population. In Ecuador, according to current regulations, the person who hunts, fishes, captures, collects, extracts, has, transports, traffics, benefits, exchanges or markets specimens or their parts of terrestrial, marine or aquatic wild flora and fauna, threatened species , in danger of extinction and immigration, will be punished with a custodial sentence of one to three years. (I)