Mérida, Yucatán.- The Federal Procurator for Environmental Protection (PROFEPA) secured a female spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi), in state of dehydration and mild diarrhea, that was found inside a cage in the kitchen of a restaurant in Merida, Yucatán.
In response to a citizen complaint, an inspection was carried out with the support of personnel from the Ministry of Public Security (SSP). The owners of the establishment could not prove the legal origin of the animal.
The specimen was found in a cage, in the kitchen of the restaurant, in poor hygiene and with no space to move freely. Because of its long tail and limbs, this type of specimens require adequate space for its natural behavior.
For this reason and based on the articles of the General Law of Wildlife (Ley General de Vida Salvaje), the precautionary assurance of the specimen was ordered.
The monkey was taken to the Wildlife Conservation Management Unit (UMA), located at the Animaya Bicentennial Zoo of Mérida, where it is being given the necessary care and attention while its legal situation is defined.
The spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) is a species of the order of primates, listed in the Official Mexican Standard in the category of endangered speices. The populations of Spider monkeys in Mexico has drastically decreased due to indiscriminate poaching activities.
Source: eluniversal.com.mx