An Indonesian citizen proudly displays a wooden box wrapped in plastic and bearing labels from Uganda, Africa. When he opens it, his emotion is evident and he shows a reptile that was inside a cloth bag and wrapped in newspaper: “Hello Galapagos land iguana. this is the male“, it says.
It would be the land iguana of the Galapagos (Conolophus subcristatus). It is endemic to the Ecuadorian archipelago. It is distributed in the islands of Isabela, Baltra, North Seymour, Fernandina, South Plaza, Santa Cruz and some islets.
In the video, which was uploaded seven months ago on the CV Karepku Channel, the Asian citizen states that the reptile was “officially bred in Uganda” along with other animals “that have begun to become extinct.”
“This is a very beautiful animal that only exists in the Galapagos Islands and in that population worldwide there are only between 5,000 and 10,000 individuals. It’s the second time we import“, it states. He then shows the female iguana. The pair of reptiles were juveniles by size.
The population of this reptile is in the Vulnerable category, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The audiovisual would have been recorded in Jakarta, Indonesia. On the same YouTube channel, the citizen has other videos where he shows a house full of exotic wild animals such as turtles.
On the YouTube channel there is a link that redirects to a web page where there is only one video, which also deals with exotic animals, and a site address www.tokopedia.com that is dedicated to “home delivery of animals”.
“We ensure that each animal shipped is in good health and in standard animal packaging,” the site reads.
In the WhatsApp group of the media of the Ministry of the Environment of Ecuador, the consultation about the video was made and it was indicated, two hours ago, that “in a few moments we will send an official statement”. In addition, the Galapagos National Park is also preparing a statement on the case.
This would be one more case of wildlife trafficking in the archipelago. Last year a policeman tried to traffic 185 Galapagos tortoises in a suitcase. Meanwhile, in 2018, more than a hundred baby turtles disappeared from the Arnaldo Tupiza breeding center in Isabela.
When extracting the pairs, the traffickers begin to reproduce them for sale.
In Ecuador, buying, selling, transporting, capturing and keeping wild animals is prohibited by law, according to article 247 of the Organic Comprehensive Criminal Code. The commission of this crime is sanctioned with a custodial sentence of one to three years and the penalty can be increased depending on the aggravating circumstances and its association with other crimes. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
