Unreported World: Mexico’s Exotic Pet Trade (Channel 4 Friday 27 October 2023)

Unreported World: Mexico’s Exotic Pet Trade airs Friday 27 October 2023 on Channel 4

What can we expect from this episode

Anja Popp delves into the underbelly of Mexico’s exotic pet trade to discover how lion and tiger ownership went from being a luxury enjoyed by drug lords to a national obsession. The infamous Sinaloa cartel operates out of the Mexican state of Sinaloa. Here, exotic pet trafficking has surpassed the trafficking of drugs, firearms, and people to become the world’s fourth largest illegal trade. Popp meets Jesus, who constructed a home in central Culiacan for his two young tigers, Simba and Nala, but found that they were increasingly difficult to care for as they matured.

However, while Jesus did legally purchase his tigers, many others do not because of lax enforcement. As a result, it becomes abundantly clear that Mexican pet owners have taken on more than they can handle, with many turning to extreme medical practises in an attempt to tame their dangerous pets. Popp comes across hundreds of big cats at a pet sanctuary on the outskirts of Culiacan that have been saved from the black market. She meets a smuggler in Mexico City who complains that the ease with which they can do their job is due to corruption.

Unreported World is a foreign affairs programme produced by Quicksilver Media Productions and broadcast by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. Over the course of its twenty-six series, reporters have travelled to dangerous locations all over the world in an attempt to uncover stories usually ignored by the world media.

Season 2023 Episode 5

When can we see the episode

Unreported World: Mexico’s Exotic Pet Trade airs Friday 27 October 2023 at 19:30 on Channel 4

Featured image credit: Channel 4