A brutal incident shocked the neighbors of the Sargento Cabral neighborhood in Alto Comedero, in the capital of Jujuy. A man beat a puma to death with clean blows.
The incident prompted an immediate response from provincial authorities, who fined the responsible person and initiated legal actions.
Beating a puma to death: how it happened
According to the accounts of neighbors and witnesses, the event took place during the early hours last week.
The slain puma was a young specimen. (Photo: Wikipedia).[/caption>
A man, the accused, owns a pack of dogs described as “aggressive.” Additionally, they reportedly had attacked different animals on previous occasions.
According to reports, the dogs had encountered a family of pumas, consisting of a mother and three young specimens, and chased them. In the pursuit, one of them failed to escape and ended up surrounded.
Faced with the situation, the man attacked the feline with a stick, beating it to death. Several people witnessed the event and publicly denounced the situation.
As a result, the Center for the Attention of Native Fauna of Jujuy (CAFAJU) was called in, an agency dedicated to the conservation and preservation of biodiversity, which also serves as a rescue, care, rehabilitation, and environmental education center.
Later, the entity reported that the man was identified and confessed to killing the animal out of fear.
“He told us that during the night the dogs were barking. He went out, saw that they had cornered one of the pumas, and he hit it. He killed it out of fear,” recounted Eduardo Vargas, a member of CAFAJU, to the newspaper El Tribuno.
What happens next in the case
According to the specialist, they found the animal’s body in the area of La Arbolada, in the same neighborhood. It was not a cub but a young specimen, so he stated that the brutality was “unnecessary.”
Puma behavior.[/caption>
In this regard, the agency under the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change of the province announced that they will fine the aggressor under the Provincial Law No. 3014, for the protection, conservation, and propagation of all species of wildlife.
When and why a puma attacks
Vargas is a biologist and member of CAFAJU. He also explained how these animals typically behave.
He emphasized that encounters between these felines and people are not common or dangerous. “The puma is a very elusive animal that flees when it detects human presence or dogs. It generally avoids confrontation. Only if a female feels that her cubs are in danger, she may react,” he stated.
Furthermore, regarding the possibility of encountering them, he explained that they are “expanding their ranges” due to the urbanization encroaching on their natural habitat. “They are throughout the province, adapting, but they have less and less space,” he concluded.
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