CRIMES AGAINST WILD ANIMALS IN THE WEST OF SANTA CATARINA, BRAZIL: AN ANALYSIS FROM ASSESSMENTS AND SEIZURES CARRIED OUT BY THE ENVIRONMENTAL MILITARY POLICE OF CHAPECÓ

Abstract

Several reports carried out by public agencies are related to conducts that altogether may constitute animal trafficking, which, along with other anthropic practices, contribute to the process of decline in animal species. Our objective was to collect data on environmental crimes related to fauna in the area of jurisdiction of the Environmental Military Police of Chapecó (EMPC), in the state of Santa Catarina_Brazil. For that, a documentary survey was carried out in the archives of that organ from January/1999 to December/2017. Environmental crimes related to fauna comprised 196 complaints, with 56 of them resulting in assessments, and 1,016 animals were seized in 33 municipalities. Chapecó was the municipality with the largest number of cases (97 assessments/539 animals seized), but the per capita values are below of 56.2% of the surveyed municipalities. Out of the total number of animals seized, 980 were birds, 28 were mammals, six were lizards and two were turtles. Most of the animals seized were released into nature (752). It is likely that the data do not represent the actual amount of wild animals kept in captivity or hunted in the region because of the difficulty of the inspection and/or structure for proper allocation of the animals.