Guardia Civil rescues several protected animals

The Nature Protection Service (SEPRONA) of the Guardia Civil, during the past year has rescued numerous specimens of animals protected by the CITES Convention (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) in the province of Alicante.

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Among the animals intervened are two Nile crocodiles, a 25 kg African spur tortoise and a 2 metre Burmese python.

In the case of the two Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus), each approximately two metres long, they were collected by agents last August in a private farm located in Partida El Moralet in Alicante. This action was the result of collaboration with the State administrations since the owner did not have either the corresponding import certificate or the captive breeding certificate.

In two other actions carried out in the month of October, a burrowing parrot (Cyanoliseus patagonus) and a Venezuelan red-tailed parrot (Pyrrhura hoematotis) were rescued, thanks to information from the public reporting the animals loose on public roads.

Likewise, at the end of 2023, a Burmese python (Python molurus bivittatus), measuring two metres in length, was located in the heart of the urban area of ​​Alicante. The last one was an African spur tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata), weighing 25 kilograms, which had been abandoned in the Sierra de Oltá, in Calpe.

The rescued animals were transferred to different recovery, rescue centres, shelters and parks for terrestrial or marine animals, which have adequate facilities and where specialists will evaluate their health status and provide them with the appropriate treatment for their recovery, in addition to food, space and care necessary for an optimal quality of life according to each species.

Due to these actions, the Guardia Civil opened an investigation to locate the owners and initiate a file as possible responsible for a violation of the Smuggling Repression Law.

If they do not prove their legitimate origin or, where applicable, the permits to carry out captive breeding, those responsible face administrative sanctions that could amount to up to 6,000 euro, or even the possibility of incurring a crime related to protection of wild flora and fauna.

Likewise, during this month the agents have initiated several files to locate those responsible for the abandonment of 30 specimens of various species of turtle such as the marginalised turtle (Testudo marginata); Russian tortoise (Testudo horsfieldii); and snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina).

The specimens come from different collections due to citizens’ notice of abandonment of animals in the natural environment. As in previous cases, the animals have been left at the disposal of the authority that will determine the centre to which they will be transferred.

Citizen collaboration

The SEPRONA of the Guardia Civil carries out numerous actions related to protected species on a daily basis. A significant part of these actions are initiated thanks to the collaboration of citizens who report when they are aware that a specimen has escaped, has been abandoned, or that they know lives in conditions that are not appropriate for its species. On other occasions, it is other administrations that require the intervention of SEPRONA, by initiating a file to verify the regularity of the possession of the copies.

Protecting fauna: SEPRONA’s mission and everyone’s responsibility

Among SEPRONA’s missions is to guarantee the conservation of flora and fauna species.

In the fulfilment of its duty, SEPRONA continually fights against the illegal trade in species protected by the Cites Convention. To carry out this mission, the collaboration of citizens is essential, as well as the rest of the administrations with which the Guardia Civil works for this purpose in a coordinated manner.

In this sense, it is worth highlighting the collaboration provided by the Santa Faz Wildlife Recovery Centre, which collects a large number of abandoned animals of protected species, preventing them from ending up in a natural environment for which they are not prepared, with the risks that means for its own species, as well as for the rest of the native species.

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