A Texan woman pleaded guilty to wildlife smuggling after being stopped at an airport in Brownsville, Texas.
Savannah Nicole Valdez had just landed from Mexico and was driving away from the airport. Border police officers who stopped her for a routine check became suspicious when they saw a strange wooden box with holes in it.
The woman tried to say it was a case of beer, but was not believed. Rightly so: inside there was in fact a specimen of spider monkey, one of the most endangered primates.
The spider monkey is native to the tropical forests of South America and Mexico. It owes its name to its tail, which resembles a spider’s leg in length.
Mexico is one of the 17 “megadiverse” states, a definition that indicates its boundless biodiversity: 10-12% of all known species in the world live here. More than 30% of mammals can be found in this country alone. This sadly makes it a haven for domestic and international wildlife smuggling.
Investigations revealed that Savannah had placed ads to sell the animal. Now she risks twenty years in prison and a fine of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, also because she ran away during the check (she surrendered to the authorities a few days later). Sentencing is scheduled for January next year.
The spider monkey that Savannah wanted to smuggle in was taken to a Florida animal shelter and is doing well.
