Large caiman seized from countryside villa
The ‘ferocious’ predator has been transported to an Elche zoo
A CAIMAN measuring 1.6 metres in length has been seized by Alicante Guardia Civil.
The sharp-toothed predator which hails from Latin America was being kept at a private villa in Sax, along with a harris hawk.
A force spokesman noted that the owner of the reptile had put it up for sale for €2,000.
An investigation was launched at the end of February by officers from the Guardia Civil environmental branch, Seprona after it was reported that a large alligatorid was being kept illegally at a country villa somewhere in the province.
They worked with the official college of vets in Alicante to establish the exact location of the exotic species.
A search of the property in Sax was carried out on Monday, where they found that a ‘large’ caiman was being housed in inadequate conditions which ‘prevented it from having the quality of the life necessary for an animal of this species’.
The owner was asked to provide documentation showing where he had acquired the animal and the bird.
The spokesman noted that he was only able to provide papers covering the ‘loaning’ of the eagle.
However, he was not able to prove where either of the species of fauna had originated from, noted the spokesman.
Officers also reported that he did not have an insurance policy allowing him to keep potentially dangerous animals.
For these reasons, both of the caiman and the eagle were seized by the officers.
On Tuesday the caiman was taken to the Río Safari zoo in Elche, ‘which has adequate conditions for the creature to live in’. The spokesman noted that it has also been microchipped and entered on the animal identification register for the Valencia region (RIVIA).
However, it was decided that the hawk could be kept at the property in Sax as the owner has adequate installations for the bird, but only while the authorities come to a decision over its future.
Caimans inhabit central and northern Latin America, living in marshes, swamps, mangrove rivers and lakes.
Their diet consists of fish, birds, small mammals and reptiles.
Due to the large size and ferocious nature of caimans, they have few natural predators within their environments.