Capybara Filo sparks wild animal breeding debate – 05/06/2023 – Environment

The breeding of wild animals was once again debated after IBAMA agents seized the capybara Filó, kept as a pet by influencer Agenor Tupinambá, from Amazonas. He was fined BRL 17,000 for undue exploitation of the animal and has already been booked for cases involving mistreatment of other animals.

Justice determined that Filo be returned to the influencer and gave him temporary custody of the animal. Brazilian law prohibits the removal of wild animals, such as the capybara, from their habitat. But it is possible to acquire and keep specimens raised in regulated establishments and that were born in captivity, as long as there is authorization for this.

Experts heard by Sheet they say that the creation of a wild animal as a pet can be an incentive, even if indirect, to the trafficking of animals, because it keeps the demand high. And they point out confusion in the idea of ​​protecting the animal by taking it home.

For them, the country really needs to discuss better ways of controlling wild and exotic fauna. But it is necessary to deal, first, with the creation of domestic animals, such as dogs and cats. This is a point of agreement.

“Today we sell domestic animals over the internet, without control of their origin. This privileges the puppy factory, and then we see dogs abandoned on the street. We don’t have a national policy for neutering or licensing and we are discussing capybaras”, says Roberto Cabral, an agent for inspection area of ​​Ibama.

The challenge contrasts with a common cultural trait in the country, in which many see pets, whether domestic or wild, as members of the family. Understand below what the legislation says and the main issues involving the breeding of wild animals in Brazil.

WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?

Brazilian legislation prohibits the breeding of wild animals, with justified and authorized exceptions. In 1967, the dictatorship approved Law No. 5,697, which created the Fauna Code. Before that, wild animals were considered “nobody’s business”, and the previous legislation, from 1943, allowed hunting and capture. In 1998, the government sanctioned Law No. 9,605, the Environmental Crimes Law, which says that legalized breeding is linked to the origin of the animal.

“Only animals that were born in captivity can be sold. The marking of animals is to differentiate them from free-living ones that were captured”, says Roberto Cabral, an agent in Ibama’s inspection area.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DOMESTIC AND WILD?

The animals that are now considered pets “went through a long zootechnical improvement over thousands of years to adapt to the environment, they are dependent on human beings”, says biologist Igor Morais, master in zoology from the State University of Santa Cruz.

Ibama has a list that includes, for example, llamas and camels as domestic animals, which do not require authorization for breeding. The capybara, however, is not on the list.

The definition for wild animals appears in the Environmental Crimes Law. “Specimens of wild fauna are all those belonging to native, migratory and any other species, aquatic or terrestrial, that have all or part of their life cycle occurring within the limits of Brazilian territory or Brazilian jurisdictional waters.”

WHAT ABOUT EXOTIC ANIMALS?

According to Cabral, from Ibama, everything that involves fauna that is not native to Brazil is a matter of federal competence, under the responsibility of the institute. The problem, he says, is that there was an interpretation that Complementary Law No. 140, of 2011, would empower states to regulate the creation of exotic species.

Mauricio Forlani, research manager at AMPARA Silvestre, argues that the law applies only to wild fauna, with terms of cooperation involving the states and Ibama. “It does not include exotic or invasive animals. When the state legalizes the breeding of these animals, it puts the stability of the environment at risk,” he says.

Some exotic species sought after for breeding are the iguana, native to the Caribbean region, the corn snake, from the USA, and the African pygmy hedgehog, which lives in countries such as Gambia, Senegal and Somalia.

Among reptiles, a cobra was known to sting a veterinary student in July 2020, in the Federal District. He and 11 other people were indicted on suspicion of trafficking in wild animals, mistreatment and criminal association. The case is in the 1st Criminal Court of Gama (DF) and awaits sentence.

WHAT IF THE ANIMAL HAS BEEN IN THE FAMILY FOR YEARS?

For anthropologist Felipe Vander Velden, a professor at UFSCar (Federal University of São Carlos), the law divides what belongs to nature and man. “But the population does not operate in that key. Cases like that of [capivara] Filo or the monkey Chico, in São Carlos, are not limited to this distinction.”

Created for 38 years as a pet, the monkey Chico, which was female, died in 2014. The removal of the animal from the family of guardians generated national commotion and protests for its return.

Vander Velden, author of “Joias da Floresta: Anthropology of Animal Traffic” (EdUFSCar, 2018), says that people are aware of the legislation and that many hand their animals over to the authorities. The appreciation for raising wild animals, however, as well as domestic ones, comes before the law.

It is recommended that the animal be handed over to the competent authorities. It is necessary to contact the local Environmental Police or an Ibama unit.

WHAT IF I TAKE CARE OF WELL?

It depends on what is considered good care.

An alert is the so-called humanization of animals, which involves putting clothes on and regularly bathing the animals. “We tend to interpret animal behavior from a human point of view, but we cannot do that”, says Luciana Lobo, biologist and environmental consultant.

ARE THERE DANGERS?

According to Lobo, one of the risks of raising wild animals is the transmission of diseases. “We manage to control zoonoses in domestic animals with vaccination, because they are diseases that we already know”, he says.

Also, contact with wild species can carry disease-causing agents. “We have the Covid-19 situation, which may have started with the exploitation of wild animals for consumption”, adds Cabral, from Ibama, referring to one of the theses on the origin of the pandemic.

DOES BUY FROM A LEGAL BREEDER COMBAT TRAFFIC?

People can acquire wild animals from legal breeders, and they must be animals that originated in captivity. But for this to be able to combat trafficking, critics say, a large number of animals would be needed to meet demand, as well as seeking out other animals of interest —which would not help to protect the species.

“The existing legal market in Brazil does not combat illegal trade at all”, says Forlani.

According to Cabral, Ibama itself has discussed the effectiveness of commercialization to combat trafficking, since the illegal market manages to reach prices up to ten times lower than the animals with all the treatments, licenses and permissions required.

“In 2022, we launched a diagnosis on the amateur breeding of passerines [pássaros] which has not shown a contribution to reducing the trafficking of wild animals. It was legalized in 1972,” he says.

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO PROTECT?

Mauricio Forlani states that the ideal would be to put forward the so-called “pet list”, which would define wild species that could be bred in the country. Today, states like Paraná, Rio de Janeiro and Alagoas have their own lists, which makes it difficult to create a national policy for management and control.

“I am not in favor of creation, but I understand that there are better ways. It makes no sense to have a state list, because the [estado] neighbor can release it”, he says.

“There is a law that needs to be complied with. But defining this need for connection and interaction with wild animals, which have very different purposes [de cães e gatos, por exemplo]it’s a complicated discussion,” adds Vander Velden.

The best way, says the agent, is to let the animals free. “If you love birds, buy binoculars, not a cage.”