Bogota’s District Environment Secretariat will deploy 70 operations during Holy Week to combat illegal wildlife and plant trafficking. Teams will cover El Dorado International Airport, bus terminals, and markets in the Kennedy, Suba, and Engativa districts. The secretariat is working with the CAR Cundinamarca environmental authority, the Bogota Police Environment Unit, and the Cundinamarca governor’s office.
“Wild animals are not pets. They are not for sale. Their place is in nature. Citizen reporting is key to fighting this crime,” said Adriana Soto, the city’s environment secretary. Under Colombian law, offenders face up to 135 months in prison and fines of up to 40,000 monthly minimum wages (approximately the exorbitant amount of US$13 million).
A 3,000-year-old tradition is now threatening endangered species
Eating green iguana (Iguana iguana) and hicotea turtle (Trachemys callirostris) in Colombia’s Caribbean region dates back at least 3,000 years. A 2019 study in the journal Etnobiologia by Elizabeth Ramos of the Universidad de los Andes and Natalia Rodriguez of the University of Copenhagen confirmed this, based on 58 archaeological studies from the region.
Spanish colonization reinforced the practice. Catholic doctrine prohibits red meat during Lent, and coastal communities found in that rule a religious reason to continue a tradition they had long observed. Moreover, Ramos documented that eating slider turtle during Holy Week is, for many Caribbean families, a ritual tied to family unity and good fortune. That cultural weight helps explain why the practice has endured despite decades of legal prohibition.
The most trafficked species and their ecological role
The slider turtle is the most trafficked species during Holy Week in the Caribbean region. Families traditionally prepare it stewed with spices and coconut rice. However, its mass extraction carries serious ecological consequences.
“They feed on carrion. They are the vultures of the water. They keep freshwater ecosystems free of contamination,” said Alberto Muñoz Rojas, a veterinarian with CVS, a regional environmental authority. Without them, pollution levels in the rivers and wetlands of the Caribbean coast would rise sharply.
Additionally, iguana eggs are cooked in stews or omelets across the departments of Atlantico, Magdalena, Cordoba, and Bolivar.
Protected palms and sustainable alternatives
Authorities are also monitoring two plant species. Demand for both spikes before Palm Sunday, when Catholic worshippers cut fronds for the liturgical celebration. Furthermore, their slow growth makes recovery extremely difficult once they are harvested.
The wax palm (Ceroxylon quindiuense) is Colombia’s national tree. It is listed as Endangered on the country’s national red list and produces at most two leaves per year. Cutting its young shoots typically kills the plant. Similarly, the wine palm grows only in the tropical dry forest, an ecosystem of which just 2% survives in Colombia.
As a result, environmental authorities recommend replacing palm fronds with nursery-grown plants that do not threaten these fragile ecosystems.