The Federal Public Ministry (MPF) requested the State Institute for the Environment (Inea) to carry out a new inspection at the resort, in Rio de Janeiro, where 15 giraffes were seized in January this year.
The environmental agency must urgently verify the current health, accommodation and general welfare conditions of the animals.
It will also be necessary to clarify the circumstances of the importation of the 18 giraffes from South Africa and the possible mistreatment of the animals that may have caused the death of three of them.
Initially, 18 giraffes arrived at the resort in November 2021. Three of them died after fleeing the scene, in Mangaratiba, on the Costa Verde of the state of Rio de Janeiro.
The others remained confined in 30 square meter bays until they were seized in January this year in an operation by the Federal Police (PF) and inspectors from the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Resources (Ibama). Two men were arrested at the scene.
The court ordered RioZoo, in the state capital, to build a new shelter for the 15 giraffes. In February, the animals were taken to this area, which has already been completed.
At the time, Ibama’s technical opinion found that the death of the three giraffes “is the tragic consequence of a series of procedural errors”, in which the agents responsible for authorizing the import “did not act in a way to preserve the greatest public and environmental interest”. ”.
Specialists from the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ) pointed out, in a Partial Technical Report prepared by the Technical Commission, some inadequacies to be corrected and suggested that the company provide clarifications.
Source: CNN Brasil
