Tigers, elephants among hundreds of animals escaping cartel violence in Mexico

Not even wild animals are safe from Mexico’s cartel violence.

Tigers, elephants, lions and monkeys were evacuated this week from a wildlife refuge in Culiacán, Sinaloa, a city overrun by cartel gunmen.

The animals, some of which were once kept as pets by drug lords, were moved to another facility after staff faced threats and gunfire — a total collapse of law and order.

The Associated Press reports that the Ostok Sanctuary, which housed over 700 animals, was forced to pack up and flee after months of violence and intimidation from rival factions of the Sinaloa Cartel.

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Some animals went days without food. Others began shedding fur from stress. Two big cats died.

“We’ve never seen violence this extreme,” sanctuary Director Ernesto Zazueta told the AP.

This is what happens when cartels run the show and the government steps aside.

For years, Culiacán was under firm control of the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the world’s most powerful drug trafficking organizations. That “order” shattered when a son of El Chapo Guzmán kidnapped a rival cartel leader and handed him over to U.S. authorities.

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An elephant arrives at its new home in Mazatlan, Sinaloa state, after being transported from Ostok Sanctuary in the outskirts of Culiacan, Mexico, on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

Now, the cartels are fighting each other for turf. And civilians, including children and families, are paying the price.

Security analyst David Saucedo told the AP that the two warring factions are “extorting, kidnapping and robbing” to fund their war. Roads are blocked. Shootings happen almost daily. Parents check the news each morning to see if it’s safe to send their kids to school.

When night falls, the streets go dark. Bars close. Businesses shut down. The police? Mostly absent.

The animal refuge sat near Jesús María, a stronghold of the Chapitos, a faction run by El Chapo’s sons. That made it a dangerous place to operate.

According to the UK’s Mirror, exotic animals were being caught in the crossfire. Tigers, lions, even elephants were showing signs of trauma from hearing gunfire and helicopters nearby. 

A lioness is carried to a transport cage at the animal refuge Ostok Sanctuary, on the outskirts of Culiacan, Mexico, on Monday. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez)

Some of the animals were once owned by cartel bosses. One tiger was found chained in a plaza during a shootout. Locals whisper that drug lords feed enemies to their pet lions — a disturbing rumor that reflects just how broken things are.

Staff say they received threats to burn down the sanctuary and kill the animals unless payments were made.

“There’s no safe place left in this city these days,” rescuer Diego García told the AP.

After months of pleading for help, the sanctuary got nothing from the government. Not a single authority stepped in to protect the animals or the workers.

The last straw came when one of the sanctuary’s elephants, Bireki, injured her foot. No vet in Mexico or even the U.S. was willing to travel to cartel territory to treat her.

“We asked ourselves, ‘What are we doing here?’” Zazueta told the AP. “If we don’t leave, who will treat them?”

That led to the quiet decision to evacuate: not just the elephant, but every animal on site.

Trucks with white flags were loaded with sedated tigers, lions, jaguars and elephants. Some workers whispered calmly to the animals, trying to ease their stress. The convoy rolled out of Culiacán, past masked cartel lookouts on motorbikes, and into Mazatlán.

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It took months of training and planning. But the animals made it. For now.

Sanctuary staff are praying that Mazatlán will be a true refuge. But they know cartel violence has spread like a disease. And the fear is that it could follow them.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.