Cancun – Mexican environmental authorities rescued here Thursday nine Bengal tigers and two pumas kept in cramped, unsafe cages that belonged to a businessman who used them as tourist attractions.
Taking part in the operation were at least 50 federal agents and specialists in handling wild animals, who took charge of sedating the big cats and moving them elsewhere.
Officials at the Profepa environmental enforcement agency said the animals were being taken to zoos and wildlife reserves in Mexico and Puebla.
The attorney general for the state of Quintana Roo, Gaspar Armando Garcia, said his office had been notified about the operation in Cancun.
Several environmental groups had filed a series of complaints against businessman Jose Juarez because of the foul conditions in which he kept the animals and the lack of safety measures that endangered the public and had already caused accidents.
One of the most notorious incidents occurred last November when a Bengal tiger weighing more than 200 kilos (440 lbs.) attacked a worker clearing a strip of land alongside the highway.
The man had one arm and his head bitten but miraculously managed to escape, thanks to a dog that distracted the tiger.
That accident made organizations like the Humane Society determined to get the felines moved to a safer place.
Authorities have not revealed the legal position of the animals' owner.
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