PARAMARIBO--A man who earlier this month shared photographs of himself on social media, posing with the carcass of a dead jaguar, has been arrested. The exact details of the arrest are not clear but, according to news reports, the man who works for one of the country’s armed forces, was arrested together with a colleague.
The 44-year-old civil servant whose name has not been given, caught the ire of Facebook users last week, when he shared the disturbing photographs on his Facebook page. One picture shows him armed with a shotgun in his hands and a handgun on his hip; in another he is squatting next to the dead jaguar. People identified him as “someone who wears the nation’s arms” and pointed out that it was outrageous for someone in his position to have killed an endangered species.
The plight of jaguars has peaked as a cause of concern since October this year, when wildlife magazine National Geographic exposed an illegal trade in Suriname, in which Chinese immigrants have set up networks to hunt jaguars, process their bodies and smuggle the products to China. “A reliable estimate of the number of jaguars in Suriname doesn’t yet exist, but evidence suggests that poaching is taking a toll on the protected species,” National Geographic wrote. The damning report has pushed Suriname to take note.
Local animal welfare organisation Henk Abrahams Stichting also came across the pictures the man shared on his social media page; the organisation shared the photographs and noted that “the man in question who killed this mighty and protected animal has called us with the request not to publish the pictures, because the Suriname Police Corps is already investigating the case.” The organisation said the man claimed he did not know that the animal belonged to a protected species. “And this in 2018? We are happy that the police are taking action,” the foundation wrote.
The man also spoke to journalists on December 9 and expressed regret. “I made a big mistake when I took that picture and shared it. But like I told the police, I did not kill the animal. It was already dead. All I did was have my picture taken with the carcass and I see now that I should not have done that.”
His apologies did not prevent his arrest. The Prosecutor’s Office ordered that he be taken into custody and charged with violating the game act. This happened on Friday.
