Gustavo Laurnagaray
08/19/2021 12:01
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 08/19/2021 12:01 PM
Environmental and conservation organizations launched a petition to
ban the sport hunting of the puma
, an activity that attracts dozens of foreign hunters annually and moves tens of thousands of dollars to obtain
the "hunting trophy
.
"
But also, conservationists of the puma warn that it is necessary to end the slaughter of these animals because it is a species that functions as an
alarm on ecological imbalances
.
Launching the petition on Change.org gathered
more than 36,000 signatures in just ten days
.
Behind the initiative are the Pumakawa refuges in Córdoba, the Cullunche Foundation in Mendoza, the Argentine Network Against Trafficking in Wild Species (RACTES) and the Humane Society International.
Hunter and his prey.
Sport hunting of pumas in the preserves of La Pampa.
Conservationist Kai Pacha, from her Pumakawa refuge, located in Villa Rumipal in the Calamuchita Valley, tells the purpose of the petition.
“We want to change the law that allows cougar hunting.
It is
a law of the dictatorship that allows the hunting trophy
, its export and import ”, he explains.
It is the national law No. 22421 on the Conservation of Fauna, which has a regulatory decree during the government of Carlos Menem in 1997.
“This law is very old.
The paradigm changed in the world
, we have evolved and the relationship with the environment changed.
There are countries that are prohibiting sport hunting and instead of targeting a few businesses, the hunters, they are reconverting to tourist activity ", says Pacha, dedicated to the preservation of the puma on the side of provincial route 5, in the Cordoba mountain range.
Argentina is the seventh
largest exporter of hunting trophies in the world
.
"We have to get out of that place," says Pacha.
August 30 of each year is
International Puma Day
.
And its conservationists set a goal to advance the protection of the species.
“The cougar is quite abused.
It is believed to be harmful and it is considered harmful, when it is the other way around: it
is key to the preservation of the ecosystem
”, says Kai Pacha.
In the La Pampa preserves, most hunters come from the United States and Canada.
In Costa Rica, since 2012, sport hunting is prohibited.
"Even South Africa banned the breeding of lions for hunting," exclaims Pacha.
The lion population fell 98% in the past two centuries, according to the Four Paws conservation organization.
In La Pampa, in the 2019 season, 253 foreign hunters arrived. They were the ones who bought the
permit to hunt
pumas, deer, buffalo and other species. Most from the US (171) and Canada (24), also came from Europe (Sweden, 9; Germany, 8; Switzerland, 1; Luxembourg, 2; England, 1; Hungary, 1; Holland, 1; Denmark, 7; Romania, 1), from other South American countries (Brazil, 7; Austria, 8; Uruguay, 3; Paraguay, 1 and Peru, 3). Hunters also arrived from Mexico (2), Australia (1) and Namibia (1).
In that season, the Undersecretary of Natural Resources of the Pampas reported that
17 pumas were hunted
in the authorized breeding sites.
In 2020 the hunting season was prohibited by the pandemic and in 2021 it was reduced to a few weeks, due to the closure before the second wave of Covid that began in May.
The sport hunting of the puma is practiced in addition to La Pampa, in hunting reserves of Buenos Aires, Río Negro and Neuquén.
The puma is present in Chubut, Santa Cruz, Córdoba, Mendoza, San Luis, La Rioja, San Juan and Mesopotamia.
In the national Congress there is a bill to prohibit the export and import of hunting trophies.
The goal is to discourage the sport hunting business.
That is the way to end the sport hunting of the puma.
The sport hunting of pumas is practiced in several provinces.
In addition, the initiative of the protectionist organizations involves the airlines.
Through a letter, they asked Aerolineas Argentinas to join the ban on the transport of hunting trophies.
"
This is in tune with what happened to 'Cecil' the lion was captured in Zimbabwe
," Pacha said.
He was referring to the case of the lion, which was the most beloved of that country and was taken out of a national park for capture by an American hunter, the dentist Walter Palmar.
He paid $ 55,000 for that hunt.
After that scandal, 40 airlines banned the transport of hunting trophies.
In the pandemic, the closure of borders revealed that a
part of the hunting business is illegal
.
In a field near Balcarce, on National Route 226, in January 300 specimens of wild species were found, including tigers, pumas and deer.
“This is a sample.
There are 10 cougars that can come to our reserve.
This has to end ”, claims Kai Pacha because the reserves are overflowing with pumas detected in the hands of illegal reserves.
Kai Pacha has in his refuge in Villa Rumipal pumas that were injured by agricultural machinery when the corn harvest was being carried out.
“This reveals the adaptability of the cougar.
And it is superior to that of the jaguar ”, explains the conservationist.
“
When the cougar leaves its environment, it is because it does not have wild animals to hunt
.
And this is an ecological fact ”, he remarks.
“The cougar damages cattle when they run out of wild animals.
It is a fuse of the environment.
For 50 years the cougar was killed and it does not work.
It is killing the fever, the symptom, "says the Cordoba conservationist.
It refers to the fact that in Chubut, the government pays up to 5,000 pesos for a head and the leather of the puma.
The Silvestre Argentina Foundation has already asked Governor Mariano Arcioni to repeal this rule, Law XVII-N ° 52.
The protectionist Kay Pacha calls for other strategies towards the puma, which replace the slaughter used as "control hunting".
“There are many strategies to have with the cougar.
Guard dogs, llamas, flashing lights, the donkey.
When the puma hurts, why is there an environmental problem, "he insists.
The Pampa. Correspondent
ACE
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