Dealing with 2,000 exotic animals in five years

It is prohibited to keep a raccoon. | Archive

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma02/01/2018 00:00

Cofib, which is the Balearic centre for the recovery of fauna, says that in the past five years it has had to deal with 1,997 exotic animals, almost half of which have simply been abandoned.

Coinciding with a post-Christmas campaign with the slogan - "the life of an animal has no price" - the organisation wants to try and prevent the abandonment of any type of animal. There is a particular concern with exotic animals, which include the likes of raccoons and are not native to the islands.

With some of these animals, and the raccoon is an example, it is prohibited to keep them. This is because they are categorised as invasive species. There needs to be official certification in order to keep some exotic animals. If certification is not available, this is because it is illegal to keep the animals.

A problem, explains Cofib, is that owners aren't well informed as to what animals need to eat, the extent to which they grow and the possibility of their posing a danger. When owners give them up to Cofib, this is typically because the animals have grown too big or bite.

It is impossible to return the animals to nature, so the only options are zoos or euthanasia.