The lion, lynx, pumas and jungle cats housed at Montekristo were moved to bigger homes within the illegal zoo yesterday.

The move followed a series of stories by The Sunday Times of Malta on the poor conditions in which the exotic animals at the animal park were being housed.

The newspaper subsequently reported that the Animal Rights Secretariat had written to the Police Commissioner to summon the owner of Montekristo Estates, Charles Polidano, known as Iċ-Ċaqnu, to face criminal charges for violation of the law.

Polidano Group claimed yesterday that the transfer was carried out according to the company’s “commitment to offer the animals housed at Montekristo the best environment possible”.

Last week, eight environmental NGOs condemned the authorities for ignoring the illegalities and animal welfare issues at Montekristo Estates, which hosts the animal park.

They said it made no sense for the authorities to profess zero tolerance on illegalities and pass harsher laws for animal abuse when they then failed to take action.

Reacting to that statement, Polidano Group said all animals housed at Montekristo were purchased from zoos and breeders within the EU, and were all certified according to CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

However, the planning authority, which is the local managing authority for CITES, said that all the documentation required for the importation of the protected species was only handed in last week.

Mepa had given Polidano Group seven days within which to submit the documentation after The Sunday Times of Malta pressed the authority for the necessary legal documents.