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Dentist Charged With Illegally Killing 1,000 Protected Jaguars

Updated September 4, 2021

It is 2019, and though we've made a lot of social strides in terms of animal rights in the last decade or so, poaching is still a significant issue that persists world-wide.

With various numbers of beloved wild animals rapidly becoming endangered and even extinct, it is important that we act as a voice of legality for those who cannot voice protection for themselves.

A number of parks, areas of land, and even entire countries have put laws in place to protect certain populations of animals from being hunted and killed by humans.

Four years ago, the world mourned the loss of Cecil the lion.

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Cecil lived in the Hwange National Park in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe, and was being studied by a research team from the University of Oxford, when he was hunted, shot, and killed by American dentist Walter Palmer.

Palmer was not charged with any crimes, but the case received widespread media attention and opened a lot of the public's eyes to the issues with poaching.

Recently, another dentist has decided to post proof of his poaching 'prizes' via social media.

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Temistocles Barbosa Freire is a long-standing member of a Brazilian poaching gang, suspected of killing thousands of endangered animals including jaguars, capybara, collared peccary and red brocket deer in the country's northwestern state of Acre.

Since 1987, Freire has illegally killed over 1,000 jaguars.

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Brazilian authorities had "hacked the gang's conversations and monitored their movements for at least three months before making the arrests."

All seven men in the gang have been arrested and charged with illegal hunting and use of a firearm without a permit.

Hunting jaguars is illegal in Brazil.

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The International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List also states that jaguars cannot be hunted in Argentina, Colombia, French Guiana, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Suriname, the United States and Venezuela.

If found guilty, all gang members could receive prison sentences.

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Through a three-month-long police investigation, reports state that the group killed "eight jaguars, 13 capybaras, 10 collared peccaries and two deer."

In order to attract jaguars in particular, the group allegedly used the sound of the cuica, a high-pitched Brazilian friction drum.

Freire is likely facing the most prison time, as his participation in the crimes has been the most prevalent.

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The additional members of the group include Doria de Lucena Junior, a doctor; Sinezio Adriano de Oliveira, a worker in the Judicial Branch; Gilvan Souza Nunes, a farmer; Gisleno Jose Oliveira de Araujo Sa, a prison officer; Manoel Alves de Oliveira, an electrician; Sebastiao Junior de Oliveira Costa; Reginaldo Ribeiro da Silva; Gersildo dos Santos Araujo.

Though the jaguar is not yet endangered, the species is listed as 'near threatened'.

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The CITES Appendix I states that all international trade of jaguars or their body parts is prohibited in all of Latin America.

Investigations such as these are vital in ensuring that animals such as these are not hunted to extinction.

h/t: Mirror

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