Benito is going to have a new house. This has been stated by the governor of Puebla, Sergio Salomón, on his social networks in which he assures that the head of the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa), Blanca Alicia Mendoza Vera, has confirmed that the giraffe is going to be transferred to the Africam Safari animal center. This decision puts an end to eight months of controversy and the last few days of citizen indignation at the risk that the animal suffered by surviving the harsh frosts of Chihuahua.
The Save Benito organization is celebrating. The tireless fight of a group of neighbors has given results: the African giraffe, which arrived on May 3 at the Central Park of Ciudad Juárez, is finally leaving this public space without the status of a zoo, where it has survived the extreme heat and the cold below zero, the lack of surveillance and medical care. This citizen group, which was formed practically since the arrival of the animal to the border city, already achieved with indirect protection last week that a judge ordered Benito's transfer, but the federal bureaucracy had blocked the process.
Profepa still has not officially communicated that the animal is leaving for Puebla. In one of her last communications she indicated that, in addition to Africam Safari, Altiplano (Tlaxcala), Santuaai (Querétaro) and Zacango (State of Mexico) had offered to receive Benito. It was Salomón who announced that Puebla was the chosen destination: “I am very pleased to inform you that I just had a call with the head of Profepa, Blanca Mendoza, who confirmed to me that Puebla will be the new home of the giraffe Benito . Africam Safari has already been notified by this federal agency, so I can tell you that it is official. I have instructed the Secretary of the Environment to maintain permanent coordination with Africam for Benito's transfer and her arrival to our state. We will be attentive at all times to the well-being of our new friend. Hello, Benito, Puebla is now your home. See you soon”.
For its part, Africam Safari has already sent expert technicians in wildlife management to Juárez to review the state of Benito. “We have to see his physical condition, to see if he can overcome the transfer, and his mental state, because giraffes are highly sociable, they have to be in large numbers of animals, and this giraffe has been alone for a long time, we have to be sure that she is psychologically fit to integrate with a family. “I'm sure that's going to happen but it takes a little time,” explained Frank Camacho, head of the park.
The animal center, which will cover the expenses of the trip, is still preparing the plan for how to take Benito from the border city to Puebla, separated by more than 1,900 kilometers. Camacho explained that they are still evaluating how the transfer will be carried out: “We have transported more than 50 giraffes and we have never anesthetized any because it entails risks and has not been necessary, we have done it with positive reinforcement so that the giraffe enters voluntarily into the container. “They are special containers designed for each giraffe, so it was important for the team to determine the exact age and height, in two positions, crouching and upright.” When? “We don't know because it's not up to us. “It will depend on the giraffe, because we are not going to tie it up and put it in a box.”
Benito's story reflects the omissions that animals suffer in Mexico. The organization Anima Naturalis points out that the country registers the highest number of cases of abuse in all of Latin America, with more than 60,000 animals dying due to violence each year. For months now, Save Benito has reflected the giraffe's suffering daily. “Coat color modification, weight loss, compulsive disorder; skin infections (due to contact with feces), stomach infections due to improper feeding (food in a state of putrefaction)”, are some of the damages included in the federal protection. Profepa also confirmed the poor attention towards the specimen, but so far, the giraffe is still there.
Furthermore, Benito has become the object of a fight between institutions. On the one hand, the federal agency accuses the Government of Chihuahua of PAN member María Eugenia Campos of taking the giraffe to the central park without “authorization”, of not complying with any of the adaptations that it had to make to the habitat for a dignified life. animal and not even requesting its transfer. For these reasons, the federal agency has fined the state Executive with 1.5 million pesos for “putting Benito's life at risk.”
On the other hand, the Chihuahua Administration affirms that Benito arrived with the approval of Profepa, who in his visits confirmed that everything was fine and that they are the ones who do not want to let go of the giraffe. The suffering of an animal that the neighbors had saved from the clutches of abuse and bureaucracy had remained in the middle.
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