With the arrival of the Holy Week, the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC) is prepared to address a problem that comes with vacationers: the appropriation and transfer of wild species of flora and fauna.
Angie Sánchez, national coordinator of wildlife, said that although every year they call for the population to respect the species, there is a bad habit of taking plants or animals.
In these times of vacation people visit resting places and have contact with flora and fauna. People have a habit of taking animals or plants (like orchids) to their homes. At some point I found turtles, corals, parakeets, birds in a shoe box… People go out hunting a lot too, it is a habit at this time, especially in areas of the Central Valley like Cartago,”
said Sánchez, who added that wildlife is a public property and flora is a public asset, and therefore extraction, possession, transfer and hunting are duly regulated by the Conservation Law.
The fines that can be faced if you are arrested with these species range from 10 to 40 base salaries and one to three years in prison for the confiscation of animals in danger of extinction. And in the case of species that are not in danger of extinction, there is a fine of one to five base salaries and a penalty of four to six months in prison.
SINAC operations will concentrate on patrols in areas that have experienced problems due to the extraction and transfer of plants and animals. But in addition, they will keep an eye on the feeding of wild animals, which is also a problem.