Spanish police seize 1,090 stuffed animals, including protected species

Spanish police have discovered a private collection of 1,090 stuffed animals, including elephants, rhinos and polar bears, in a huge warehouse near Valencia.

It was the largest private collection of its kind ever discovered in Spain, the Civil Guard announced on its website on Sunday.

A total of 405 of the animals belonged to protected species, it added.

The animals were found in a 50,000-square-metre hall, about twice the area of a large furniture store or seven football pitches. There they were presented in an elaborate environment like in a museum.

Among other things, cheetahs, leopards, lions, lynxes, snow leopards and crocodiles were found, as well as animals extinct in the wild, such as the African scimitar oryx, or almost extinct animals like the Bengal tiger.

Why this huge collection, which also includes 198 elephant tusks, was only now discovered in the small town of Bétera, about 20 kilometres north-west of Valencia, remains unknown.

Owner under investigation

The police also did not give any information about the owner, who is under investigation for smuggling and violating laws for the protection of endangered species.

It is now being investigated where the animals came from.

The owner, a well-known Valencian entrepreneur, said he had inherited most of the animals from his father, according to the newspaper Las Provincias.

The police estimated the black market value of the collection at almost €30 million ($32.6 million).