The Federal Police (PF) in Mato Grosso do Sul indicted three people, including a rural producer, for the death of two jaguars and 18 other animals in the Abobral region, in the Pantanal, in Corumbá. The carcasses were found in June 2021.
In the completed investigation and sent to the Federal Public Ministry, an expert report was also attached that attested to the presence of carbofuran, a pesticide prohibited for sale in Brazil since 2017, in the liver of one of the jaguars.
The investigation began on June 15, 2021, when the Federal Police and Ibama (Brazilian Institute of Natural and Renewable Resources) were called by the veterinary team of the Reprocon Institute (Reproduction 4 Conservation).
The institute formed by researchers works on the conservation of wild animals through reproductive biotechnologies.
In May 2021, according to veterinarian Pedro Nacib Jorge-Neto, researchers received the death signal from the jaguar Sandro. The animal, a four-year-old male, had been monitored since November 2020 through the collar.
Due to the costs of the expedition, the team was not able to go to the site until June. Sandro’s carcass was found in the Abobral region and, a few meters ahead, another jaguar was found, also dead. “If it was just a dead jaguar, it wouldn’t draw attention, but two animals, without a fight mark, that was worrying,” he recalled. The other jaguar, also male, was not monitored by the group.
For safety, the vets left the scene and called the PF and IBAMA. Two days later, another expedition was made, this time to guide the teams to the site. Based on the information extracted from Sandro’s collar, it was possible to identify the last two feeding points of the animal.
On the trail to this location, Jorge-Neto said that other dead animals were found, also without any apparent signs of a fight: vultures, caracaras, crab-eating foxes and, lastly, cattle. There were 20 animals in total and the initial suspicion was of poisoning.
Jorge-Neto said that the situation worried ranchers in the region who warned about the practice of poisoning “baits” to attract jaguars.
“The use of carbofuran for intentional poisoning of domestic and wild animals has often been described in scientific publications, as one of the most common pesticides for this purpose”, pointed out the PF when releasing the result of the report that attested to the presence of the pesticide in animals.
The role of the substance as a determinant for deaths, however, is still considered probable. “It is not possible to state categorically that carbofuran intoxication was the determining cause of the animal’s death”, says the PF.
One of the elements that supported the indictment was the seizure of a farm tenant’s cell phone, which shows a conversation that indicates he was aware of the poisoning.
The PF did not say who the three accused are, but the report found that they are the rural producer, an employee of his and a third person who assisted in the crime.
The report also found that, in addition to the conversation caught on the tenant’s cell phone, packages of pesticides were found at the indicted employee’s house.
The three men were indicted under Article 29 of Law No. 9,605/98, which deals with environmental crimes. The base penalty is six months to one year in prison and a fine.
