Tigers, Giraffes, and Drug Lord Mansions: Welcome to Honduras' 'Narco State'

[Judi Lynn]

A BENGAL TIGER IN ITS CAGE AT THE JOYA GRANDE ZOO IN HONDURAS, ON MAY 14TH, 2022. PHOTO: FRED RAMOS FOR VICE WORLD NEWS.


For years, the Honduran government aided and abetted drug traffickers. But now it's all over. Or is it?



By Emily Green
FR
Photos By Fred Ramos
July 7, 2022, 7:00am

SANTA CRUZ DE YOJOA, Honduras—Joya Grande Zoo wasn’t built for ordinary visitors.

To get there from the capital Tegucigalpa, we needed an SUV to slowly drive an hour up a bumpy, potholed dirt road with a reputation for bandits. Flanked by verdant, green trees, we didn’t pass another car for miles. And with no cell phone service, there was no indication we were on our way to anything, except for a few billboards featuring cartoon animals with enthusiastic slogans. “Let’s go to the zoo!!” read one, featuring a hippopotamus, jaws wide open, fangs out.

When we finally arrived, a half-dozen families were lined up at the ticket counter waiting to enter. Another family arrived soon after—by helicopter.

The zoo’s drug-lord founder, Devis Leonel Rivera Maradiaga, legendary leader of Honduras’ Cachiros cartel, also preferred to arrive by helicopter. That was before he confessed to participating in the murders of at least 78 people and started turning on his associates. Today, both Rivera and the man he helped bring down, former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, are under the custody of U.S. authorities, and the zoo’s animals are wards of the Honduran state.

Joya Grande, Spanish for Big Jewel, unfolds over a winding concrete path around a mile long that features an astonishing collection of animals: 30 jaguars, 19 tigers, 18 lions, five hippopotamuses, one giraffe, plus zebras, camels, and more. The zoo boasts 48 species, as well as a zip-line, a mini-train, and a go-kart track, with one functioning go-kart. The big cats, with names like Gordo (Fatty), Flaco (Skinny), and Mañosa (Cunning), live in small, metal cages and their terrorific roars reverberate throughout the property. They consume 11,000 pounds of chicken a month, a financial burden without Rivera’s drug money to pay for it anymore.

More:
https://www.vice.com/en/article/m7geaa/honduras-joya-grande-zoo-drug-lord-mansions

[lark]

1. Don't go there - it is completely disgustingly filthy.

At least Roatan Island is and it's part of Honduras and I was told it's as filthy there as it is on Roatan. Tree tops where coated in filth, there was no garbage collection and the gorgeous waters were hard to see through the ton of debris coating the water. When we went out in a boat, the water was beautiful & great for snorkeling, but there was a huge mat of filth once you came within 1/2 mile of land.

The people were more poor than Jamaicans were back in the early 80's, it was so sad.

Now, it has been 12 years since I was there and hopefully it has been cleaned up some, but I for one wouldn't pay to go see.