By Wendy Anders

Costa Rica’s protected areas and national parks received over 77,000 local and international visitors between December 23, 2016 and January 1, 2017, according to the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC).

Some visitors had plans apart from enjoying nature. Sinac officials detained and filed police reports on 34 people for causing environmental damage by pillaging forests for wood and poaching in natural areas for wild animals.

The seizures were made in the northern part of the country, the Central Pacific, the Caribbean, Guanacaste province, and the Osa Peninsula, said conservation authorities.

A total of 485 wild animals were seized from travelers attempting to remove them from their habitats for personal use or for trade, said Sinac.

In addition to the animals, 153 tools and items allegedly being used for ransacking natural areas were seized, as were 1,117 pieces of wood illegally removed from the areas mentioned above.

Sinac spent over US$15,000 (8.5 million colones) for the extra holiday monitoring and patrolling in and around protected areas, and were aided by local police and 230 local volunteers, said the agency.

The agency set up 120 operations, consisting of road blocks and check-points, in and around the country’s nine conservation areas where these specimens were seized.