White-tailed deer are in the “near threatened” species category.
The Ministry of the Environment, Water and Ecological Transition of Ecuador filed a complaint with the Los Ríos Provincial Prosecutor’s Office (west) for the alleged crime of illegal hunting of wild fauna of a deer, the ministry reported this Friday.
In a statement, it specifies that the complaint is based on several videos that circulate on social networks where “the hunt of a white-tailed deer was evidenced (Odocoileus virginianus) near the Samama Mumbes Wildlife Refuge and Hacienda Clementina ”.
Zonal Directorate 5, which includes the provinces of Los Ríos, Santa Elena, Bolívar, Galápagos and Guayas (with the exception of the cantons of Guayaquil, Durán and Samborondón), collected information on the event in addition to the videos, which were presented to the Prosecutor’s Office and are included in the formal complaint.
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The Ecuadorian environmental ministry “hopes that with the support of the National Police the investigation of the case will begin as soon as possible, in order to find the whereabouts of the alleged perpetrator or perpetrators of the act and thereby give way to the corresponding administrative and criminal actions. ”.
White-tailed deer are in the category of “near threatened” species according to the Red List of Mammals of Ecuador and face the decrease of their habitat due to illegal logging of forests.
The environmental authority called on citizens to protect biodiversity and reject all kinds of actions that endanger the country’s natural heritage.
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Under Ecuadorian law, attacking wildlife is a crime punishable by the Comprehensive Organic Penal Code (COIP) with a custodial sentence of one to three years.
In recent years, several sentences have been handed down under the COIP, which penalize environmental and nature crimes for crimes against wildlife and the trafficking of species that have been confiscated in different parts of the country.
Last Tuesday the Ministry of Environment, Water and Ecological Transition categorically rejected “the promotion and dissemination of graphic or audiovisual content that encourages the purchase and consumption of wild species.”
This was how he reacted to the latest broadcast of the MasterChef Ecuador program, which caused a huge stir in the country for the presentation of wild animal meats for cooking, including deer, shark, crocodile and a species known as stifle, and capybara (the largest rodent). of the world that inhabits the tropical forests of Central and South America).
Environment recalled that both hunting and consumption of these species are a crime and threaten their conservation.
In its legal system, Ecuador, located among the 17 most megadiverse countries in the world, recognizes Nature as a subject of law. (I)
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