Illegal Jaguar Hunting | Caza ilegal de jaguares

By Iván Paredes, Nómadas; Opinion:

Illegal Jaguar Hunting in Bolivia; Argentine Company Offered Packages of up to $50,000

In Bolivia, Noya organized at least 30 illegal expeditions since the 1980s, focusing on jaguar hunting in protected areas.

Cartel encontrado en España, donde ofrecían cazar en Bolivia. NÓMADAS.
Poster found in Spain, advertising hunting in Bolivia. NÓMADAS.

Illegal Jaguar Hunting in Bolivia Promoted by Argentine Company Caza & Safaris Argentina, which operated in the country for 30 years. The organization, led by Néstor Noya, offered packages of up to $50,000 to international hunters to kill jaguars in protected areas of eastern Bolivia.

Investigations published by Bolivian journalist Iván Paredes in the magazine “Nómadas” detail the magnitude of the crimes committed by this criminal network. Noya brought his clients, primarily from the United States and Spain, into Bolivia via small planes from Brazil for illegal hunting. The hunted animals were sent to clandestine workshops in Argentina for taxidermy, preserving the animals to later export them.

In Bolivia, Noya organized at least 30 illegal expeditions since the 1980s, focusing on jaguar hunting in protected areas.

The revelation of this international illegal hunting network caused outrage in Bolivia. Activists such as Lisa Corti from the Llanto del Jaguar Collective, park ranger Marcos Uzquiano, and environmental lawyer Rodrigo Herrera filed denouncements with the Prosecutor’s Office in December 2024. Uzquiano revealed that Luis V. R., a Spanish hunter, under Noya’s organization, killed at least five jaguars in the ANMI San Matías in September 2023.

Noya’s business model was as lucrative as it was devastating: the rarer and more difficult the animal to hunt, the higher its price. Jaguars, considered exclusive trophies, were killed by clients who paid fortunes for these illegal experiences.

NOYA’S CURRENT SITUATION

Jorge Néstor Noya, currently under house arrest in Buenos Aires, faces charges of illicit association, illegal provision of firearms, animal cruelty, and wildlife depredation. Six other defendants, including hunters like Spanish national Luis Villalba Ruiz, are also being prosecuted, with two of them in Bolivia.

A police operation in Argentina led to the seizure of 44 firearms and 7,951 pieces of taxidermied animals, including Bolivian jaguars. High-end vehicles, properties, and land used for the hunts were also confiscated.

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