Spanish police investigate private collection of more than 1,000 stuffed animals

An extinct north African oryx is among a collection of more than 1,000 stuffed animals being investigated by police in Spain.

Of the 1,090 specimens found, 405 are from protected species, the Civil Guard said, while two are almost extinct – the addax, or white antelope, and the Bengal tiger.

There are also examples of cheetah, leopard, lion, lynx, polar bear, snow panther and white rhinoceros, and 198 large ivory tusks from elephants.

The scimitar oryx – also known as the Sahara oryx – was declared extinct in the wild by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in 2000.

The collection is worth about £24m on the black market and its owner, a businessman, could be charged with trafficking and crimes against the environment, officers said.

The animals were found in two warehouses covering more than 50,000 square metres on the outskirts of Bétera, a small town north of the eastern coastal city of Valencia.

The discovery was made following an investigation by Valencia Police’s Nature Protection Team which began in November.

It is the largest number of protected stuffed specimens in the country, officers said.

Investigators will be looking for documents justifying ownership.

Read Entire Article