After a wounded toucan was rescued last Sunday on Paseo de la Reforma and handed over to police officers in Mexico City, two days later the capital authorities do not have information about the fate of the bird or its state of health, denounce the people who participated in the rescue, who fear that the specimen comes from trafficking in species.
Infobae Mexico communicated to the citizen care area of the Ministry of Citizen Security (SSC), however, the agency indicated that it has no information on this case nor could it specify whether the Brigade for Animal Surveillance (BVA) has the copy under its protection or whether it was sent to the Attorney General's Office Federal Department of Environmental Protection, which is responsible for dealing with these cases.
Ana Cervantes told Infobae that on Sunday around 13:00 hours she was returning from a walk in Chapultepec when, before reaching Reforma 222, a bird suddenly fell on the side lane and the bike path, forcing it to stop in order not to run over it. Noticing that it was a toucan, the young woman and her boyfriend got out of the car to help her.
When they tried to take it with a jacket to remove it from the avenue, they discovered that it had injuries and bleeding in its beak, as well as that its wings were intentionally cut. Ana, acknowledges that she is not an expert in the handling and care of exotic animals, however, she knows that it is a protected species and that therefore it should have registration rings, and given the obvious absence of these elements she was able to deduce that the specimen came from the black market.
Ana said that another girl and a motorcyclist approached to support and together they decided to seek help from the Office of the Environmental and Territorial Planning Office of Mexico City, however, they did not get a response. Therefore, they agreed to give notice to the SSC Animal Surveillance Brigade, for this reason they called 911, where they were informed that the only aid available was a patrol in the Zona Rosa - San Ángel sector.
The girl said that minutes later the capital's police tried to take the bird simply with their hands, without following any protocol, until some people provided them with a huacal and some rags. Thus, the bird was introduced into the back of the MX-047-H5 patrol, where a policeman remained guarding it. The unit left without giving any further details whether it would make the transfer to adequate facilities in the management of wildlife.
For Ana and her boyfriend, the situation left them uneasy and when trying to monitor the toucan's state of health, they found that no capital authority had any record of the case. Ana explained that they sought help from SSC Internal Affairs where they did not find any further information, until they were finally able to contact Javier Martínez, who said he was one of the managers of the Animal Surveillance Brigade, who explained that the bird was not in their facilities.
The young woman who issued the alert last Sunday about the injured animal, stressed that the head of the BVA indicated that they only had a report of a sighting and flight of a Tucán specimen over Paseo de la Reforma, but that there was no documentation available on a rescue and safekeeping. On this point, he considered it striking that the time of the sighting report coincides with the time when it was handed over to police elements.
Ana Cervantes explained that as a result of this event some groups of rescuers have approached to provide her with support and advice. By sharing their experience in this particular case, they fear that there is a possibility that the toucan could return to the black market if no environmental authority takes responsibility.
For this reason, they asked the intervention of the SSC-CDMX management and even the Head of Government, Claudia Sheinbaum, to be clear about the fate of this bird, which is supposed to be protected by environmental laws.
Infobae tried to communicate with the capital's authorities to learn how they follow up on the case of this animal rescue, and through report 1394006 we were informed that there are not enough elements to provide information.
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