Taxidermy Elephant Was Just the Start of What Police Seized

'Private museum' includes over 400 specimens of protected, endangered species
By Mike L. Ford,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 11, 2022 1:05 AM CDT
Warehouse Held Eye-Popping Number of Taxidermy Animals
In this photo, made available on Sunday April 10, 2022, Civil Guards check stuffed animals in Betera, Spain. The collection would fetch $31.5 in the black market and its owner could be charged with possible trafficking and other crimes against the environment, the Civil Guard said.   (Guardia Civil via AP)

After a months-long investigation, agents with Spain’s Civil Guard have seized an eye-popping collection of taxidermy animals. The Guardian reports the collection was uncovered Wednesday in a 500,000-square-foot warehouse and contains some 1,090 specimens, at least 400 of which are protected or endangered under international law. The Civil Guard on Sunday said it is investigating the businessman who owned the collection; no arrests have been made. The expansive collection includes white rhinos, polar bears, snow leopards, cheetahs, a Bengal tiger, and a Sahara oryx, which was declared extinct in 2000. AP refers to it as a "private museum," which—together with its 198 large elephant tusks—could fetch about $31.5 million on the black market.

According to NPR, the Civil Guard is looking into whether any documentation exists that would justify the possession of the animals, which are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). CITES was established in the 1960s to "ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten the survival of the species." There are 184 parties to the agreement, which today “accords varying degrees of protection to more than 37,000 species of animals and plants” in the multibillion dollar international wildlife trade. (More taxidermy stories.)

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