It wasn't that a zoo "purchased an animal," it was the type of animal the zoo purchased. Gorillas are and were* an endangered species. Meaning they are protected, and trafficking them is illegal, regardless of who the buyer is.
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I'm uncertain of the laws in Mexico, but for many places zoos are not allowed to procure wild-caught animals. All animals on display have to either have been captive-bred, transported from another zoo, or (possibly) rescues that cannot be reintroduced to the wild.
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The reason behind this is that:
1) it's meant to discourage poaching. When there is a market value for an animal, it is quite often put at high risk. There are cases of many adult animals being killed in an attempt to procure baby animals for the pet trade. Or baby animals being orphaned or injured and left for dead. The animals are often kept in poor conditions and manipulated, neglected, or tortured until they are transferred.
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(Cont)
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(*This happened in the early 90s iirc)
2) taking them from the wild effectively removes members of the species from the breeding pool. Fewer animals breeding = fewer babies, which in turn causes wild populations to shrink even further.
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The FBI were tipped off by a "primate dealer" about a zoo looking to buy a Gorilla.
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The zoo in question reportedly had just lost their own Gorilla, and wanted to obtain a replacement as quickly as possible. The undercover FBI agents claim they offered to provide illegal permits for the transport and possession of the new "gorilla" to the zoo.
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To sum up: the zoo knew what it was doing was a violation of US endangered species laws, was putting the animals in question at risk, and that the "gorilla" in question was almost certainly poached.
Apparently he opted for abject terror when the "gorilla" came out of the cage. He followed this up by trying to jump out of the plane (they were on a plane btw), even after the FBI agent removed the gorilla mask.
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In seriousness though - as near as I can tell he literally never saw the gorilla until the purchase date. They negotiated extensively, with the FBI again offering to forge documents for them, making it clear (or so they claim) that what they were doing was illegal.
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I suppose he could have been a strange person who offers to buy gorillas illegally on the off-chance he might save a human disguised as one, but I don't think the FBI would see it the same way
.
I'm uncertain of the laws in Mexico, but for many places zoos are not allowed to procure wild-caught animals. All animals on display have to either have been captive-bred, transported from another zoo, or (possibly) rescues that cannot be reintroduced to the wild.
.
The reason behind this is that:
1) it's meant to discourage poaching. When there is a market value for an animal, it is quite often put at high risk. There are cases of many adult animals being killed in an attempt to procure baby animals for the pet trade. Or baby animals being orphaned or injured and left for dead. The animals are often kept in poor conditions and manipulated, neglected, or tortured until they are transferred.
.
(Cont)
.
(*This happened in the early 90s iirc)
.
The FBI were tipped off by a "primate dealer" about a zoo looking to buy a Gorilla.
.
The zoo in question reportedly had just lost their own Gorilla, and wanted to obtain a replacement as quickly as possible. The undercover FBI agents claim they offered to provide illegal permits for the transport and possession of the new "gorilla" to the zoo.
.
To sum up: the zoo knew what it was doing was a violation of US endangered species laws, was putting the animals in question at risk, and that the "gorilla" in question was almost certainly poached.
.
In seriousness though - as near as I can tell he literally never saw the gorilla until the purchase date. They negotiated extensively, with the FBI again offering to forge documents for them, making it clear (or so they claim) that what they were doing was illegal.
.
I suppose he could have been a strange person who offers to buy gorillas illegally on the off-chance he might save a human disguised as one, but I don't think the FBI would see it the same way