Ponderosa Adventure Park located in Liberia, Guanacaste, confirmed through a press conference that the nine Bengal tigers donated by Mexican Circus Suarez Brothers, already belong to the park and they will continue with the necessary paperwork to get them in the country as soon as possible.

The tigers were part of the circus for many years, but after the laws changed in Mexico forbidding the use of animals in these shows, the circus decided to find the animals a good home, however, they have been “stuck” for months in Diriamba, Nicaragua, where they are kept in cages, waiting for authorities to allow their entrance to Costa Rica.

Last week, and following the death of Costa Rica’s famous lion, Kivú, the Vice-minister of Environment, Patricia Madrigal, had told local newspaper La Nacion that they would not allow these tigers to enter the country, following Article 27 of the Wildlife Conservation Law that prohibits the exhibition of exotic animals for profit.

According to Mario Rojas, director of Ponderosa Adventure Park, they are preparing an area of 30 thousand square meters (322,917.31 square feet) where the nine tigers will live freely and with adequate conditions, like all other animals in the park, which is the home of giraffes, zebras, antelopes and others. “We’ve already presented all documentation to Nicaragua, and we need to begin the import process to Costa Rica. We expect this to take around 6 weeks, but once here we will need more time, which is requested by SENASA (Animal Health Service in Costa Rica)to evaluate the health of each tiger”, explained Rojas.

Rojas also emphasized that the current laws authorizes the entry of the tigers to the country, since it is the same law that has regulated the entry of over 200 exotic species in exhibition at the park.

For Sansón and Dalila (7 year old brothers); Royal and Tony (8 year old brothers); Nerón and Fabiola (8 years of age and also brother and sister); and Prince, Ramsés and Kimba (three brothers under 3 years of age), entering the country is the beginning of a new and better life.

Recently, Ponderosa Adventure Park, also opened its doors to receive 46 male crocodiles from the Guanacaste area; the Ministry of Environment donated the animals with the idea of providing them with a new and safe home and avoid having to sacrifice them, since according to their studies there is an overpopulation of this reptiles in Guanacaste, where there are 3 female crocodiles for every male and up to 100 in some regions of this province. Their new home is a big pond built for them within the park, the biggest crocodile measures 5.6 meters (18.37 feet).