Playa del Carmen Presses Federal Officials to Halt Wildlife Exploitation Permits

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — Local officials in Playa del Carmen say they are coordinating with federal environmental authorities to prevent any new permits for the exploitation of wildlife, following the closure of a long-running animal attraction on the city’s main tourist strip.

Kandy Mendoza, head of the municipality’s Environment Department, said she has held talks with Yolanda Medina Gámez, the local delegate of the federal Environment and Natural Resources Department (Semarnat), and that the discussions have been constructive. The goal, she said, is to block activities involving wild animals kept for tourists to pose with in photographs.

The talks have also covered the sargassum seaweed problem affecting the coast, Mendoza said.

The discussions follow the shutdown in May of Animalandia Maya, a venue that operated for years on Fifth Avenue, the city’s busiest commercial corridor.

Daily wildlife reports continue

On a separate matter, Mendoza said the municipality receives one to two reports a day of wild animals appearing inside the urban area, filed so that the species can be relocated.

She said no new complaints of animal exploitation have been registered. Mendoza nonetheless urged residents to keep reporting incidents so authorities can follow up.