BBC News<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Spanish authorities have arrested a couple suspected of selling exotic cats online, including protected species like white tigers, pumas and clouded leopards.<\/p>\n Civil Guard police raided the couple’s home on the island of Majorca after learning that they were owning and breeding rare feline species which they then sold on social media.<\/p>\n In total, 19 felines were found on the property and rescued by agents. They included a caracal, two servals and 16 hybrid felines.<\/p>\n The Civil Guard say the discovery was just “the tip of the iceberg of a plot” of a global criminal organisation involving breeders, transporters and vets.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Most of the animals offered for sale came from countries such as Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, to be smuggled into the European Union,” the Civil Guard said.<\/p>\n The authorities said the couple’s social media was “extremely active” as people from other countries contacted them to purchase these types of animals.<\/p>\n The animals were smuggled into the EU through Poland’s border with Belarus and then distributed with false documents, they added.<\/p>\n Europe is a central hub for exotic wildlife trade and the illicit black market is on the rise, according to the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).<\/p>\n The couple also advertised other animals through social media including hyenas, desert lynxes and pumas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A clouded leopard – an animal native to the Himalayas – with a price tag of \u20ac60,000 (\u00a352,000; $68,000) was also put up for sale online.<\/p>\n This raid was part of a wider operation which began last March. One other person is being investigated for selling various species of exotic animals on the internet.<\/p>\n The animals have been temporarily placed at the Son Servera Safari Zoo in Majorca. They will later be relocated to a rescue centre near Alicante.<\/p>\n The high demand for exotic cats is fuelled by social media because the felines can be seen as a sign of wealth or status, according the IFAW. <\/p>\n But these cats \u2013 which require a lot of space \u2013 are difficult to look after.<\/p>\n “They are very aggressive and can pose a danger to people or other animals” which leads to many people getting rid of them, the Spanish Civil Guard said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Guardia](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/d3ff\/live\/53a3de60-197d-11f0-a81b-978a5ee59daf.jpg.webp\")
Guardia Civil Ministry of Interior<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/bbcx\/grey-placeholder.png\")
![\"Getty](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/bb3d\/live\/ad0cfbc0-1951-11f0-b0b2-81a2c168ede5.jpg.webp\")
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