Riviera Maya, Q.R. — Another jaguar has been found dead in a highway hit and run in, this time in Riviera Maya. The latest fatality was on a section of highway near Akumal, but within the municipal boundaries of Solidaridad.
The body of the male was reported found Wedensday morning still alive and on the road. Several motorists who stopped to try and help the animal reported the sighting to Emergency 911 around 6:30 a.m.
Rocío Peralta Galicia, President of Mirada de Jaguar, said the animal was attended to by Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente (Profepa).
“The discovery was attended to according to the indications of Profepa and through the group specialized in the conservation of jaguars and other felines. The autopsy will be carried out and the body will be protected,” Galicia explained.
The Jaguar Wildlife Center also reported the death of the male jaguar (Pantera Onca) that was run over near Akumal, but within the municipality of Solidaridad, where the cat was hit by the driver of a vehicle who fled of the scene without being identified.
“We thank Enrique Zepeda and Biologists Rocío Peralta and Anuar López for their immediate assistance for preventing people from taking the jaguar’s body,” the agency reported.
The comment came after speculation that some of the people who stopped along the highway to help the animal were actually there to take the body for its fur.
The Jaguar is a protected animal in Quintana Roo. Four out of 10 of Mexico’s jaguars live in the state. The jaguar is in danger of extinction and protected under the Mexican Federal Standard NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010.
