A video showing a woman torturing and killing a mountain lion was released on social media and generated outrage from users. The entire action is witnessed by a man who accompanies the shooter and a third person, who takes the footage.
The content reached the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), which is working to identify the attacker and the other two people who participated in the attack on the animal. The Institute also investigates where and when the case occurred.
In the footage, a woman wielding a type of shotgun shoots a mountain lion, which was high up in a tree. When the animal falls to the ground, four dogs that accompanied the shooter begin to attack the animal, which tries to defend itself, but ends up dying.
“We found out about the case via the internet and the first step is to identify the person. We are going to look for it and take action”, says Roberto Cabral, Ibama inspection agent.
According to data from the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), the puma is a vulnerable species, classified as “near threatened” in Brazil as a whole. The projected population decline of this species indicates a future risk of extinction.
Preliminary analyzes carried out by Ibama on the video indicate that the case occurred in a region of Caatinga, due to the characteristics of the vegetation.
According to Ibama, people who participate in the torture and murder of the jaguar can be held liable for ill-treatment of both the jaguar and the dogs, with sentences that can vary from three months to five years. They can also be charged with the death of the jaguar, with a sentence ranging from six months to one year. In addition to paying a fine, which can vary from R$500 to R$3,000 for each animal (in the case of mistreatment); and R$5,000 for the killing of the animal.
Cabral currently states that the legislation to punish people who kill wild animals is very weak, which ends up encouraging the practice. He cites as an example the fact that the penalty for mistreatment is greater in the case of domestic animals (two to five years’ imprisonment) than in the case of wild animals (a penalty of three months to one year).
“Jaguars are killed in Brazil for sport, retaliation when preying on livestock and, eventually, out of fear of the animal”, says the Ibama inspection agent.
Change in law
In 2022, federal deputy Ricardo Izar (Republicanos-SP) presented a bill to increase the penalty for hunting and killing Brazilian felines to three to five years of imprisonment. The project, however, is stuck in the Legislature.
In justifying the project, the parliamentarian states that “the low penalty provided, six months to one year, implies a crime with less offensive potential and has not been enough to deter criminals from massacring these animals.”
This content was originally published in Woman tortures and films death of puma; Ibama tries to identify it on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
