30 endangered predators cause a Saudi arrest

Weather of Arabia - The Saudi authorities announced the arrest of a citizen in the Asir region for possessing 30 endangered animals.

According to the local newspaper, Makkah, the Special Environmental Security Forces arrested a citizen who violated the environmental law. For acquiring and displaying 30 endangered species without a license.

The newspaper pointed out that the move constitutes "a violation of the environmental law and the executive regulations for trading in wild organisms, their products and derivatives."

The official spokesman for the Special Forces for Environmental Security, Colonel Abdul Rahman Al-Otaibi, stated that "the regular procedures for the violation have been applied, the violator has been referred to the Public Prosecution, and the animals have been handed over to the competent authorities."

He added that the creatures in the possession of the violator are "10 lions, 4 lionesses, 4 cubs, 5 tigers, two bears, two crocodiles, two ibex and an Arabian oryx."

Al-Otaibi stated that "the penalty for trafficking in endangered wild organisms is a fine of up to 30 million riyals ($8 million) and imprisonment for a period of up to 10 years, or one of these two penalties."