JUAREZ, Mexico (Border Report) – Mexican officials have seized a 2-year-old male tiger found behind a chain-link fence in a west Juarez junkyard.
The Mexican federal environmental agency known as Profepa on Wednesday issued a statement saying residents alerted them to the presence of the feline living in unsafe conditions. The agency further said the business owners couldn’t produce documentation on a wildlife import license or a proper living environment for the animal.
The tiger “was found in makeshift quarters over a dirt floor, with no visible (drinking) water and fed chicken leftovers,” the Profepa statement said.
The agency has filed legal documents to permanently seize the tiger and forward to federal law enforcement authorities the information that may lead to a prosecution.
Neither Profepa nor local police officials who participated in the seizure identified the purported owner of the animal.
However, residents of the west Juarez neighborhood near the Camino Real highway said the tiger had been on the premises for several months.
They pointed Border Report news partner ProVideo to a social media ad for the junkyard, Yonque El Tigre, posted a video of a tiger behind a chain-link face waving its right paw through an opening.
The residents also said the tiger’s seizure took place last Monday.
ProVideo in Juarez, Mexico, contributed to this report.
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