Narco folly: inside the crumbling Honduran zoo built by a drug cartel

The Joya Grande zoo and its animals – many trafficked – was a status symbol and money-laundering scheme for the Cachiros syndicate. Since its seizure by the state, experts have tried to improve conditions – but the money is running out

* Words and photographs by Fritz Pinnow in Santa Cruz de Yojoa, Honduras




In the early morning, a team of young biologists drives off to start their shift at the Joya Grande zoo. They are tasked with supporting the remaining zookeepers in repairing damaged cages and helping to improve the living conditions of the animals once legally and illegally imported by “the previous owners”: Central America’s most powerful drug traffickers, the Cachiros.

“We are here to restore what we can and try to keep a zoo together that was not designed or built by professionals,” says Lourdes Alvarado, a wildlife management technician and leader of the team of biologists from the Honduran National Institute of Forest Conservation (ICF). “Our only focus is to ensure these animals live dignified lives in captivity.” Continue reading...


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