MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina creates registry for activities involving wild animals

Authorities aim at better monitoring operations involving wildlife

Argentina's Environment Ministry Friday created a Registry for people involved in dealings with wild animals, it was announced.

The new registry specifies 15 different types of operators, among which are zoos, eco-parks, hatcheries, sanctuaries and collections, it was reported.

The Single Public Registry of Wildlife Operators is to list all those persons natural or legal who carry out transit, trade, import, export and re-export of live specimens, products and by-products of wild fauna, the Ministry said in a statement.

Before this new measure there was excessive permissiveness for operators whose registration was issued ”by default,” the statement went on.

Registration will now vary depending on the type of activity and operators will have as many registration numbers as necessary, depending on the exact type of activities carried out which will allow authorities to monitor them more effectively, it was announced.

Operators have a three-month grace period to fully comply with the new norm, which will affect primarily those institutions where live animals are housed, according to the authorities.

The unified registry will also focus on cross-fertilization and verification of live specimens, products and by-products from wild fauna.