Following the report published by Excélsior stating that the YUMKÁ Protected Natural Area in Tabasco had gone from being a wildlife sanctuary to becoming an animal graveyard, new accusations have emerged from employees of the park.
Staff members from the Center for Interpretation and Interaction with Nature revealed that seven of the ten capuchin monkeys that the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) placed in YUMKÁ’s custody last April either died or escaped, without any official notification being sent to the environmental authority or the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR).
The capuchin monkeys, which are an exotic species not native to Mexico, were confiscated after being found hidden inside two black boxes in the trunk of a vehicle traveling on the Villahermosa–Escárcega highway. The person transporting them illegally was turned over to the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Photos and Videos Confirm the Neglect
At the time, Profepa reported that the animals had skin lacerations, apparently caused by fungal infections, as well as symptoms of dehydration. They were transferred to YUMKÁ to receive veterinary care and medical treatment.
A video circulating on Facebook, dated June 24, shows one of the escaped capuchin monkeys on the roof of a house in the Santa Elena neighborhood of the municipality of Centro, in Villahermosa, Tabasco. According to the local news outlet RCR+ Informativo, residents requested assistance from Civil Protection because no one wanted to catch the monkey for fear of being bitten and possibly contracting a disease.
Another video showed two monkeys on the roof of a house.
Employees of the Center for Interpretation and Interaction with Nature also stated that the lioness brought to the park shortly after the death of the hippopotamus “Rufino,” who suffered necrosis after an exposed limb fracture, is now in very poor condition due to a lack of food.
“The poor lioness they brought in to divert attention from what happened to Rufino arrived healthy and well-fed, but now she is extremely thin. There is also a scimitar oryx (an African antelope with long backward-curving horns) that they are allowing to die. The park is truly a disgrace,” they said.
The workers accused YUMKÁ General Director Diana Victoria León Mendoza of dismissing qualified specialists and replacing them with people close to her who have no training or experience. They also stated that employees work under pressure and constant threats of dismissal if they do not provide information that incriminates others for alleged mismanagement and violations of proper animal care that have resulted in the deaths of dozens of animals.
In recent days, this newspaper received photographs and videos confirming that neglect at the Center for Interpretation and Interaction with Nature has become so severe that vultures roaming freely throughout the park are feeding on newborn deer fawns without any type of control.
Vultures Feeding on Newborn Deer
Employees also reported that vultures are eating newborn deer shortly after birth.
Alleged Cover-Up
Park staff reported that on Tuesday morning, Armando Gómez, a Profepa inspector assigned to the agency’s Tabasco office, visited the park to conduct a tour alongside members of the YUMKÁ Bioethics and Animal Welfare Committee. According to the employees, he took numerous photographs during what they described as either an inspection or preparation for what they called “another staged inspection by Profepa Tabasco.”
For this reason, they demanded that inspectors from Profepa’s national headquarters conduct the investigation instead, so that an official administrative report can be opened and urgent corrective measures established. They also recalled that in January, Profepa’s representative in Tabasco, Mayra Villagómez de los Santos, visited the zoo, yet, according to them, nothing changed afterward.
Source: excelsior
