Four howler monkeys
were rescued from a farm in Benavídez, province of Buenos Aires, where they were in captivity, locked in cages.
The operation was carried out by the Department of Environmental Crimes as a result of an anonymous complaint that exposed the irregular situation to which the animals were subjected.
The howler monkeys, specimens of a species known as Carayá monkeys, were in "a kind of nursery" in that city in the north of Greater Buenos Aires, the Federal Police reported.
These types of howler monkeys are protected by wildlife laws.
As a result of the anonymous complaint, "various field tasks" began, which included the use of a drone.
Thus they confirmed, from the air, that the specimens were locked in "large cages."
The Argentine Federal Police recovered specimens of howler monkeys in captivity.
PFA Photo
After the researchers' work, the Justice ordered the search of the place, a sort of country house from which they managed to recover four adult monkeys of the Alouatta Carayá species.
According to experts, this spice is native to central South America.
They live in central and southern Brazil, Bolivia, much of Paraguay, Peru, southern Colombia and in the north and northeast of Argentina.
"It is one of the largest American monkeys. Its fur is long and rough," the Biodiversity Information System of Argentina describes them.
It indicates that they can weigh between 4 and 9.5 kilos.
The Argentine Federal Police recovered specimens of howler monkeys in captivity.
PFA Photo
Its possession and commercialization are prohibited and it is a crime that seriously affects Argentine fauna, in violation of the wildlife conservation law.
"Apparently it does not present conservation problems; however, the destruction and/or modification of its habitat has affected and may affect its populations. It is one of the wild mammals most traded as pets," adds the Biodiversity Information System.
The Federal Criminal and Correctional Court of San Isidro No. 2, headed by Lino Claudio Mirabelli, and Secretary No. 5, headed by Dr. Federico Manuel Díaz, intervened.