Woman walks tiger, an endangered species, at shopping mall in Mexico City

A social media user took to Twitter to denounce a woman who brought a tiger cub to a shopping mall in Mexico City. The social media user said the tiger is considered an endangered species ; therefore, the woman keeping the wild animal as a pet is incurring in a crime.

In her post, the social media user said she was surprised no one reported the woman. She told EL UNIVERSAL the woman who owns the tiger commented on her post and said it was not illegal to keep a wild animal as a pet; however, she later deleted her comment.

Social media users quickly reacted to the post and demanded government departments like Profepa , Semarnat , and the Mexico City government to take legal action against the woman.

The owner of the tiger was identified as Mina Ayala by social media users. The tiger cub is 2-months-old and it is named Milka.

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Gustavo Garcia, the Miguel Hidalgo borough’s legal representative, gave the shopping mall a warning after it failed to prevent a woman from walking a tiger at the facilities.

Garcia said the mall must inform authorities when it detects a wild animal. He said the Environment Ministry, Profepa, and the Animal Protection Brigade are aware of the case.

Nevertheless, it has emerged that this is not an isolated case. Days before a woman was spotted with a tiger at Antara Fashion Hall, social media users had reported another tiger at Be Grand Alto Polanco .

According to Twitter users, a man mistreated a tiger on September 1. They asked the Federal Prosecutor’s Office for Environmental Protection (Profepa) and the Environment Ministry (Semarnat) to take legal action against the man. They even provided the exact address.

Images shared on social media show people approaching the animal and touching; however, the man grabs the small tiger and manhandles it.

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Bengal Tigers

According to the World Wildlife Fund, the tiger is “at the top of the food chain in the wild and thus plays a critical role in the overall function of the ecosystem. Tigers are also a vital link in maintaining the rich biodiversity of nature. If we successfully protect just one tiger, we also protect around 25,000 acres of forest. These ecosystems supply both nature and people with fresh water, food, and health. Maintaining tiger habitats also benefits a host of globally important species like Asian elephants, greater one-horned rhino, and Asiatic black bear, among others.”

The NGO explains the illegal wildlife trade is one of the biggest threats for the species: “The most immediate threat to the survival of continental tigers is poaching to supply the demand for tiger parts on the black market. Despite a global trade ban in the past few decades, the demand for tiger products as status symbols, decorative items, and folk cures has increased dramatically, leading to a new poaching crisis. Tiger farms in Thailand, Vietnam, and China perpetuate the demand for tiger products from all sources—including the wild—and contribute to the poaching problem.”

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