Photographing Trafficked Animals in Colombia

The world needs to know about the horrible atrocities being committed by wildlife traffickers. The extremely important and courageous work of wildlife veterinarians and rehab workers, environmental police, and photographers like Mr. Valencia is so utterly crucial. But equally crucial, if not more so, is a more widespread awareness of the importance of leaving these creatures in the wild and the pain and suffering caused by the selfish exploitation of these animals. In addition, the punishment for the crime of smuggling wildlife should be much more severe than it often is.

The only thing missing from this story is more information on the wealthy miscreants that create a market for these atrocities.

Why are the fines still so low? Having just read about the Viennese doctor fined for trafficking in rare birds appealing his $47K sentence and the final settlement of $41K---the fines are of no consequence to a doctor, who the bird procurer said earned $500K p.a. Neither is the doctor's name published, so there is no shaming. Amoral people are affected by public shaming or significant financial consequences, and neither appears to be happening. Thirty years ago, Greenpeace boats and their crew indicted the sea mammal slaughter with their photos: Who is their counterpart today? Who are the judges that cannot be bought so that they bring the trafficking to a halt?

For a few moments, I felt their pain, and like them, asked "Why?" Man's cruelty, greed, and lack of remorse is far more "animal" than the animals we have just had the privilege of seeing.

My thoughts on what deserves to happen to these traffickers shock me.

It's so sad to see that kind thing. Greats photos. Gongradulations to the photogropher.

Interesting how this story rears it’s ugly head on the day people get rich by abusing some of the most beautiful horses in existence in what we call the Kentucky Derby. Over the winter 23 race horses died at Santa Anita race track in California because they had essentially been ridden to death on a bad track. Did any horrified commenters tune in and raise the ratings points for this “American Tradition?”

7 billion of us...so little respect for our ecosystems and diversity...Carl Sagan had pleaded to us to be stewarts of our planet...sadly our report card fails at so many levels. We are not at the apex of some triangle and these species and flora and ecosytems are not for us to plunder. But it takes education and some other source of income for those that did not win the birth lottery to get this it seems.

Thank God for Ivan Valencia. I wept as I looked at his exceedingly disturbing and yet powerfully compassionate images. The searching eyes of those creatures are breathtaking. I can't even begin to imagine what happened to the individuals who maimed (and continue to maim) innocent animals in such a vicious way, what on earth blackened their hearts and emptied them so completely of all humanity? I applaud Mr. Valencia's heroic efforts to bring awareness to the plight of wild animals, and especially his calling out the idiotic and wildly selfish people who attempt to domesticate wild animals. Lush habitats and their fantastic inhabitants disappear, all in the name of unchecked consumerism! My heart is heavy.

Mother Earth should never forgive us for the countless atrocities we have committed (and continue to perpetrate) against her most precious creation — nonhuman animals. “We know we cannot be kind to animals until we stop exploiting them -- exploiting animals in the name of science, exploiting animals in the name of sport, exploiting animals in the name of fashion, and yes, exploiting animals in the name of food. Only when we have become nonviolent towards all life will we have learned to live well with others.” — Cesar Chavez

Reminds me of how the Trump boys shoot beautiful lions and beasts brought in specifically for wealthy “hunters” to shoot and kill. They are part of a particularly pathetic type of “man” who kill these beautiful beasts in order to prop up their miserable sense of their own pitiful masculinity. It sickens me beyond all description.

Beyond all human tragedy, I feel greater compassion and desperate suffering of these natural, and balanced, crafted that live in the natural order and harmony of their condition. Til the vile human best enters the picture. Is it that everything the vast majority of what human hands touch is doomed to degeneration and destruction?

I confess I purchased an African Grey parrot but I did serious research into the breeders and their humane and loving operation and their passion for their fledglings. Cheecho, though born and raised in captivity, is not an entirely domesticated breed. He is free to fly around our mid century all glass house surrounded by forest and by day he is put out in a penthouse sized cage and he interacts with all the wild birds and squirrels. And as much as I love him and he I, there is surely a pang of regret that washes over me sometimes when I look at him. He believes we are his “flock” and he is obsessively in love with me. We play peek-a-boo, and he sings the entirety of The Andy Griffith’s tv show theme. One of his first words was “Obama! Obama!” Since that’s what he heard all the time when he first arrived here - he’s since dropped it. But I can’t help but imagine him in a real flock, among hundreds of his fellow grays in Africa, being what he was naturally meant to be, free in the wild. I hold him every night and sing him little lullabies. But deep inside I regret it.

The beast man is the vilest creature on this beautiful planet.

Please share this article, our animals often die pointlessly when they are bought as mascots.

Thank you for this and for doing this good work, Mr. Valencia.

It's a fancy and disgusting little habit for men to keep illegal wildlife. A farmer and hunter I know in upstate New York has a predilection or habit for bring home exotic animals, whether orphaned or ordered. If only the jails were filled with them instead. Thank you for these images, as a viewer knowing they are the rescued ones is especially good for the cause.

I studied the picture of the "dismembered" spectacled caiman in almost disbelief. I couldn't wrap my head around the idea of it being sold to someone who would use it as a "decoration." Then I scrolled down and the next picture was of a group of veterinarians and assistants in the midst of euthanizing "Billy, a declawed Andean bear rescued from an animal dealer's house." If you look at their faces, it is clear that they are in agony per having to put Billy down. The young man in the center, wearing his mask and gloves, is, oh, so gently cradling what seems to be Billy's snout. But it is the young man on the left who really caught my attention---he is wiping tears away as he holds one of Billy's paws as he falls into his last sleep. My eyes got wet, a grapefruit grew in my throat and I had to look away. I looked back at these wonderful people and then gathered my three big rescue hounds together and hugged each of them as tightly as I could. I ache with grief for the animals pictured in this piece---and for the ones who didn't get into the photographer's lens. I ache with gratitude for those who do what these rescuers and caretakers do---and for the way Mr. Valencia chooses to spend his spare time. And I ache for The Creation, which is slowly but surely being brought low by the hubris of the creature that supposedly occupies the highest position on the evolutionary ladder.

If you want to save the animals, then have fewer children and lower human population.

As advanced as humans think they are, how can they believe that cave-man-medicine, based on ground-up animal parts, could cure possibly them of anything?

When people buy "cute" baby exotic animals from the internet, or by word of mouth, they guarantee that somewhere a mother of the cute baby will be killed so the baby can be taken by traffickers. MANY, many of these babies then die during transport, because of poor care, heat, lack of water, lack of the right food.... And then, how many of those who buy these exotic pets get tired of them after a while? Tired of dealing with difficult feeding, hard to find/ expensive food, or strange exotic diseases...... Meanwhile, millions of dogs and cats, animals that have lived with humans for hundreds of thousands of years, that are essentially, at this point, bred to be pets, are killed in "animal shelters" every year. No, they're not "exotic", they won't amaze your friends and neighbors, but they will give you a lifetime of loyalty and love.

I worship the few very few examples of these exceptional humans that dedicate their lives souls and spirits to the well-being of all earth's creatures. However, my hate of humans in general grows daily. The sooner humans no longer exist the better off this planet will be. Humans were a mistake.

The faces some inquisitive, but most just frightened, all seem to ask the same question that we all ask "what's going to happen to me?"

We are currently witnessing a complete rewriting of biological evolution on a global scale, one that is well en route to achieving the full eradication of entire species from this planet. This article also resonates with an earlier one focusing on Vietnamese forests who have been siphoning out of wildlife to such a degree that these natural habitats once teeming with colorful wildlife now stretch out as eerily silent greeneries since devoid of any life. Hard to believe but true. There used to be a time in this world where animals manicured their aspect to the utmost in a relative peace engaging in a step-by-step process which by the way flowed through generations and over millions of years, and for all sorts of reasons. To hone eye-catching features or special skills to get the attention of a mate, better fitting into an ever-changing environment, or else simply camouflage against predators. Yet, most seem today defenseless against this new level of threat and us unable to quell the slaughter we are perpetrating. Nowadays and in the eye of the human beholder, the net result of those striking features is being monetized on a black market at a scale and amplitude probably never seen before. The stock is dwindling so fast we are already talking of a 6th extinction. Despite, christening this period with a name, there still doesn't seem to be any viable solution to roll back the tape. Will skip assessing how sad this makes me.

These photographs, stories and statistics are beyond depressing. Humans do little to deserve the distinction "most intelligent" species, given the dedication we exhibit towards the wanton consumption and destruction of this planet and its amazing riches. Maybe I wouldn't feel quite so cynical and angry if there was a purpose to some of it, but to see these fellow creatures, life's passengers just like us, suffer so violently and needlessly to serve our pleasure and profit, makes me sick and angry beyond measure. Elizabeth Kolbert's "The Sixth Extinction" is a well-written and sobering account of the history of extinction, and our role in the process. I am thankful for Valencia, his photographs and his dedication to documenting this destruction - I often wonder about the creatures who are rescued from trafficking. His efforts and those of people like him, give me some small sense of hope for a better future for ALL creatures on this planet.

America needs to take a gander at its own backyard. Here on the Great American Plains was our Africa and guess what folks? Most of the biological diversity was made extinct here for the almighty dollar! So we can sit here in our easy chairs and point fingers but isn’t that disingenuous? And today we see even more of that diversity being slowly strangled to death by insecticide!

Such cruelty there is....my heart is having difficulty containing the pain these beautiful but sorrowful photos show.

Hell is too good for those who commit such horrendous actions to innocent animals.

These photos are truly heartbreaking

Just because you can buy these animal doesn't mean you should. Leave them be so we can all benefit and enjoy the animals as the free living entities they are meant to be. Life is not ours to regulate over others we share this planet with. Let Them Be!

My heart is breaking. Look into their eyes. How can anyone look into these eyes + still commit these terrible acts?

This is, indeed, heartbreaking......as I sit here on a 500 acre horse farm in North Carolina, with my two hapy & muc-loved terriers at my feet, and a barn full of thoroughbreds twenty yards from my front porch. Good God........the inequalities, injustices, and cruelties. Thank you for this obviously needed wake-up call. Many heartfelt thanks for this photographer's work and commitment. sincerely, David Terry Quail Roost Farm,. Rougemont, NC USA

Cruelty towards animals is often a precursor to that towards other human beings. Even in the context of profit: what is the point of selling animals missing limbs or other body parts, and in poor health ? Although these photos are so sad to look at, thank you NYT, Mr. Valencia, and Columbian authorities - who surely have many other problems to contend with, yet are making efforts to stop animal trafficking and heal these animals as best they can.

Amazing article and photos. More important journalism like this please!

Heartbreaking photos. Thank you to the photographer, the rescuers, and all who work to give the animals health and sanctuary!

Fortunately, parrot beaks grow throughout the lifespan. The bird in question shows that if you look carefully under the original beak.

Thank you for the article and thank you, Ivan, for your work defending creatures who are prey to the most despicable among us. I sincerely believe there is a very special place in hell for those who abuse children and animals. At least, I hope there is.

Thank you for having focused attention to this crucially important issue, Ivan. What a cruel and greedy species we are. The trafficking and torture of animals is taking place worldwide, with sales taking place not just in street markets but also online.

It’s illegal supply and demand. As long as people want an animal and are willing to pay for it for consumption or a pet there will be people who will go on the hunt for these beautiful, innocent animals. I have a parrot born here in the US. It pains me to see that parrot with its beak cut off. It must have been so painful for the bird. The punishment to these trappers and traders should be twice the damage done to the animal. And what happens to the captured animal that loses a limb or part of a tail during the trapping? Wouldn’t the soon to be owner want a ‘perfect’ animal without defects? This makes me so angry. I think of the original Twilight Zone episode is on display in a cage on another planet. Maybe we need to do that to the people who capture animals for trade. Put them in a cage that offers no privacy in a barred cage and let them be harassed by the ‘zoo’ visitors.

Perhaps he could photograph for us a few of the billions of animals that we pay to have brutalized every year by our system of animal agriculture, every one of them as innocent, defenseless, and precious as any pictured here. I wonder how the Comments would read then...

The cruelty of some upsets me so much. Yet, the wonderful people saving and photographing these animals....in this crazy world there's hope.

And (some) humans consider themselves the superior species...

Heartbreaking

Sickening beyond comprehension. There is no punishment that is enough for the people who traffic the poor animals - or the despicable buyers who keep that market going.

Humans are monsters. We neither deserve or appreciate the beauty of this planet. The sooner we go extinct, the better off this planet will be.

We are a despicable species. The planet should eradicate us. The suffering here is unbearable.

This is unbelievably heart-wrenching to see these helpless animals being trafficked and treated so inhumanely.

The photographs tell it all. Money, profit and cruelty at the expense of helpless and defenseless animals. Appalling!

Thank you, Ivan. Hard and sad truth. Thank you for photographing it.

This is so very sad. I do not understand people that do these things. And for what? MONEY!

They should leave these animals alone.