By Heba Girgis
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

ASUNCION, Paraguay—We all know what it is like to be stuck in the security line at the airport for an hour anxiously wondering if we will make our flight departure, or wondering if just because we possess certain traits we will be held up at customs. Now take this situation and multiply it by two months of waiting.

This is the situation that 16 lions and tigers face on the border of Paraguay because Argentine officials refused to approve the big cats’ paperwork for re-entry into the country.

The group of cats includes nine Bengal tigers and seven African lions. They all belong to an Argentine circus that travels to the capital of Paraguay every August to perform. The group’s owner, Oswal Wasconi, travelled with them to this year’s performance and ran into trouble when the group attempted to return to Argentina. Apparently a new law was passed in Paraguay banning live animal acts in performing circuses.

After realizing that they had no choice of putting on the live animal show, Wasconi decided to try to ship the lions and tigers back to Argentina. It was at this point in the game that these animals got stuck at the customs border between Argentina and Paraguay. While the animals all have good-health forms and certificates, their entry back into Argentina was blocked by government border officials who demanded more information about the protected species of cats.

Estela Gomez, the director of Paraguay’s wildlife agency, noted that her ministry decided to move the performing cats to the Asuncion Zoo in pairs “so that they can live in some comfort and not in a strange area” until the issue with the border patrol is resolved. The cats’ owner will be providing the zoo with enough food and water to care for the cats while this matter is investigated further.

Gomez said also that, “In the next few days we will continue investigating the true reasons why the Argentine authorities aren’t authorizing their return. I can’t anticipate whether these beasts will remain forever in Paraguay or eventually go to Argentina.”

Paraguay is not the only country to develop this type of ban on live animal acts. Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador have also passed a similar law and the legislation process is under way in both Colombia and Brazil to develop their own laws of this nature.

As Wasconi awaits the news from Argentine border officials, his animals await the verdict in the Asuncion Zoo in Paraguay’s capital city.

 

For further information, please see:

Global Post – 16 Tigers and Lions Stuck in South American Border Limbo for 2 Months – 25 August 2012

Cortez Journal – Caged Big Cats Stuck on Paraguay Border 2 Months – 24 August 2012

Newsday – Caged Big Cats Stuck on Paraguay Border 2 Months – 24 August 2012

The Washington Post – 16 Tigers and Lions Caged in Two Month Border Limbo; Banned in Paraguay, Barred From Argentina – 24 August 2012