A jaguar cub being kept as a pet was seized by police, but then cops gave it back as they didn’t know what to do with it.
Officials from an environment department received an anonymous tip.
The caller said the baby big cat was being kept at a residential home.
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When police visited the home, a family member told the police he’d found it about eight months ago while out hunting.
He said he decided to take it home with him.
The family had named him Golias, which is Portuguese for Goliath.
After being told it was illegal to keep wild animals as pets, the family chose to hand over Golias without a fight.
Footage shows how a uniformed officer scooped the big cat up from a boy’s lap and loaded it into the back of a van.
It happened in Santo Antônio do Içá, which lies deep in Brazil’s Amazon jungle, west of Manaus on Tuesday (4 Feb).
Local environment official Marcos Penha said: “The family agreed to surrender the cub.
“Because they knew that, as it grew, it could pose a risk to people’s safety.”
A local vet examined the feline and found it to be a healthy and docile male weighing about 38kg (6st) and measuring 1.58m (5’2”) long.
But given the lack of facilities in the remote area, officials chose to return it to the family yesterday (5 Feb).
In the meantime, the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) will work out what to do with it.
The agency said: “Representatives from Ibama and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) are looking for a temporary home for the animal.”
If possible, the jaguar will be prepared for life in the wild and eventually released back into its natural habitat, as reported by Need To Know.
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