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Spain Probes Private Taxidermy Museum With 1,000 Animals

Civil Guards check stuffed animals in Betera, Spain,  on March 10. 

Civil Guards check stuffed animals in Betera, Spain,  on March 10. 

Source: Guardia Civil via AP

Updated on

Madrid (AP) -- Spain’s Civil Guard says it is investigating a businessman in the eastern Valencia region who owned a private taxidermy collection with more than 1,000 stuffed animals, including just over 400 from protected species and at least one specimen of a North African oryx, already extinct.

The collection would fetch 29 million euros ($31.5 million) on the black market, the Civil Guard said Sunday in a statement, adding that its owner could be charged with trafficking and other crimes against the environment.