Teenagers and Young People Need to be Educated On the Illegal Wildlife Trade

A Bengal tiger cub named Moka was smuggled from Mexico to the U.S when he was found by border officials and given to the San Diego Zoo where he is now settled.

A Bengal tiger cub was earlier discovered in a plastic container by Mexican authorites after someone tried to mail the animal from Jalisco to Queretaro. But recently, another cub was found while being smuggled across the U.S-Mexico border in the back of a car by border officials at the Otay Mesa crossing. The driver, 18-year-old Luis Eudoro Valencia, was charged with smuggling the cub into the U.S and has been sentenced to six months in jail. When asked, Valencia reportedly alleged that the cub was just a cat and presented paperwork from Aeromexico cargo that included a sales receipt falsely stating that Bengal tigers are not a protected species. He later told investigators that he had purchased the cub for $300 from a man who was walking an adult tiger down a street in Tijuana. According to the BBC, even though Valencia's defense team asserted that he wanted the cub as a pet, prosecutors revealed text messages on his phone in which he boasted about making large sums of money by selling exotic animals. In addition, a video on his phone showed a concealed compartment under his car seat that could also have been used to smuggle animals. Valencia's arrest was one of several made as part of an anti-wildlife smuggling operation known as Operation Jungle Book that took place across southern California. The tiger cub, now named Moka, was five to six weeks old and weighed 6 pounds when he was rescued and is now living at the San Diego Zoo. Veterinarians stated that despite the journey, he is in good health and has since been paired with a Sumatran tiger cub named Rakan.

A Bengal tiger cub which was found inside a plastic container in Mexico.

I cannot think of anything more shocking than to find that the perpetrator behind the smuggling of this tiger cub was a teenager. Not only did this fellow claim that he had purchased the cub thinking it was a cat, but he had bragged of making large amount of money by selling exotic wild animals. This goes to show that Valencia does not have qualms about making so much money to support himself and to survive in the real world. I think Valencia's story should serve as a lesson to teenagers everywhere about the consequences of illegal wildlife trade. Just as drug abuse, alcoholism, and other such social issues can result in young people getting arrested, so can the illegal wildlife trade. As adults, it is our obligation to educate teenagers and other young people about various issues that they are going to encounter in life as they step out into the real world. These issues should not only be limited to the ones that can affect a young person's health or social life, but also the world's wildlife. The illegal wildlife trade is just as lucrative and illegal as the drug trade. While the illegal drug trade is directly linked to numerous violent crimes against innocent people, the illegal wildlife trade can also contribute to serious injuries and even deaths of people as well as animals. I believe it is highly essential to educate the youth about the illegal wildlife trade and the dangers it poses to the general public. This could really help in young people making right decisions and using good judgment when they go out into the world to make a difference.

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