Exotic animals rescued after sanctuary raid

MEXICO CITY — Authorities on Wednesday started hauling away 177 lions, tigers, jaguars and other exotic big cats that were found at an animal rescue center in the mountains on Mexico City’s south side.

The federal Attorney General’s Office for Environmental Protection said 202 animals in all, including monkeys, dogs, donkeys and coyotes, were being taken to other locations.

Dozens of heavily armed city police raided the “Black Jaguar White Tiger” animal sanctuary Tuesday after images of rail-thin, distressed and injured lions circulated on social media.

The founder of the reserve told local media that he had rescued some of the animals and that some of them arrived in bad shape.

Mexico City police chief Omar Garcia Harfuch said the property had been seized “for the crime of improper use of property and mistreatment of animals.”

City police said in a statement that “according to the inspection, the property where the aminals were kept is zoned for agricultural or grazing purposes, not for keeping the kind of species found.”

Under Mexican law, private individuals can register to keep exotic cats and other animals in supervised wildlife management units. The facility raided Tuesday appears to have filed such paperwork.

But the animal rights advocacy group PETA called the site a “false sanctuary,” saying it had been complaining for years that the facility was engaged in abusive practices.

Peta said the lions, tigers and jaguars were held in relatively small fenced-in pens, sometimes with more than one animal per enclosure, and also were forced to interact with humans for “selfies” or videos.

The Association of Zoos, Breeders and Aquariums of Mexico said its members would volunteer to take charge of the animals.