In an investigation involving the importation of 18 giraffes from South Africa, the Federal Police (PF) indicted two public servants and two representatives of the BioParque, in Rio de Janeiro.
They were accused of crimes under environmental legislation. The final report of the investigation was sent last week to the Federal Public Ministry (MPF), which will be able to file a legal complaint against the four.
The investigation work began in January of that year, after the death of three of the 18 animals.
The giraffes were imported by BioParque. Managed by Grupo Cataratas, it is a reformulation of the Rio de Janeiro Zoo, which opened in 1945 and is one of the oldest in the country.
In 2016, the municipality decided to transfer its administration to the private sector. The concession notice was won by Grupo Cataratas.
After several works, the BioParque was inaugurated in March of last year. Grupo Cataratas, which is also responsible for managing other important ecotourism spaces in the country such as the Iguaçu Falls National Park, the Tijuca National Park (Paineiras Corcovado) and the Fernando de Noronha National Marine Park (EcoNoronha), announced the adoption of a new zoo concept, based on environmental education, research and biodiversity conservation.
The giraffes entered Brazil in November 2021 and were taken to a shed at the Hotel Resort Safari Portobello resort, in Mangratiba (RJ), where they would be quarantined until they were taken to the BioParque. Six of them managed to escape from space and were recaptured, but three ended up dying in the episode.
In view of the situation, the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) imposed a fine on the BioParque and the MPF considered that the importation violated international agreements, recommending the return of the 15 surviving animals, which did not happen.
Since then, discussions in the civil sphere have taken place in the state courts, in a lawsuit filed by the National Forum for Animal Protection and Defense and the Animal Rights News Agency (Anda). Within the scope of this process, the court determined that the BioParque was to carry out the necessary works to build a suitable place for the giraffes to stay. The situation began to be closely monitored by IBAMA.
BioParque has maintained that the animals are part of biodiversity conservation programs and were not captured in the wild, which is considered a crime by Brazilian law. Considered the largest import of large animals in the history of Brazilian zoos, the movement had been authorized by Ibama.
The Instituto Estadual do Ambiente (Inea), an agency linked to the government of Rio de Janeiro, inspected and approved the facilities of the Hotel Resort Safari Portobello before the arrival of the giraffes.
According to the PF, the investigation revealed that there were deliberate failures of two public servants, whose names were not disclosed. The inquiry points out that they ignored the failure to comply with fundamental requirements. Express rules regarding the minimum size and other basic characteristics that should be observed in the enclosures where the animals were taken were disregarded. It was also found that BioParque representatives committed the crime of mistreatment in the handling of giraffes.
The PF concluded that they valued cost reduction at the expense of animal welfare and safety.
In a technical report produced in February by the Veterinary Institute of the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ), inadequacies in the space where the animals were had already been identified as determinants for the episode that resulted in the three deaths.
The document gathered the conclusions of an evaluation carried out at the request of the MPF, where different requirements were observed, such as shelter, food and health conditions, in addition to behavioral issues.
The indictments were carried out based on Federal Law 9.605/1998, known as the Environmental Crimes Law. Public servants were identified as authors of the crime of “false or misleading statements, omitting the truth, withholding information or technical-scientific data in authorization or environmental licensing procedures”.
The penalty in case of conviction is one to three years of detention, plus a fine.
BioParque representatives can respond for “practicing an act of abuse, mistreatment, injuring or mutilating animals”. Although detention is provided for from three months to a year, the legislation provides for an increase in the penalty when there is death and when several animals are affected.
Sought by Agência Brasil, BioParque and Ibama did not comment. Inea reported that it has not officially received any notification from the PF, adding that it is available to collaborate with investigators and to clarify any questions.
Source: CNN Brasil
